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THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
GLASGOW MEMORIALS
GLASGOW
PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS BY
ROBERT MACLEHOSE 6* COMPANY LTD. FOR
JAMES MACLEHOSE AND SONS, PUBLISHERS
TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW
MACMILLAN AND CO. LTD. LONDON
SIMPKIN, HAMILTON AND CO. LONDON
BOWKS AND BOWES CAMBRIDGB
DOUGLAS AND FOULIS gDlNBURGH
MCMVIII
Six hundred copies of this book have been
printed for sale, of which this is
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as ■?
GLASGOW
MEMORIALS
BY
ROBERT RENWICK
DEPUTE TOWN CLERK
WITH ONE HUNDRED ILLUSTRATIONS
GLASGOW
JAMES MACLEHOSE AND SONS
PUBLISHERS TO THE UNIVERSITY
1908
^"7 0
Y
PREFACE
"IT T'HEN George Chalmers, in the third volume of his
^^ Caledonia^ published in 1824, gave an account of
Glasgow and its ecclesiastical arrangements, he had to supple-
ment information obtainable from a limited command of
ancient manuscripts by accepting the statements of local
historians who had little opportunity of consulting original
sources, and the learned author was thereby betrayed into
a few inaccuracies. Gathering historical particulars in those
days was no easy task, but in the eighty and odd years
which have since intervened, facilities in that direction have
accumulated, and with the extended knowledge brought
within our reach most of the mistakes of previous writers
may now be safely avoided. In systematic research the
Maitland Club broke ground, in 1832, with the publication
of extracts from the Municipal Records.
But it was in connection with the Church that Glasgow as
a municipality came into existence, and the publication of
Registrum Episcopatus Glasguensis in 1843 ^^^ much to clear
up the annals of the city from its foundation till the
Reformation. This work was followed three years later
by the issue of a volume {Liber Nostre Collegii Domine,
etc.) edited by Dr. Joseph Robertson and containing a
pr-w--'-.->.,^
vi PREFACE
most valuable collection of documents bearing chiefly on
ecclesiastical aff^airs. Professor Cosmo Innes, who edited the
Regislrum, subsequently took in hand Munimenta Alme
Universitatis G/asguensis, which the Maitland Club issued in
1854. Other works devoted to the production of original
material, including National Records published from the
General Register House in Edinburgh, and specially the
excellent series of Charters and Records of the City of
Glasgow edited by Sir James D. Marwick, LL.D., are
enumerated in the appended List of Authorities.
A glance over that List will show how large a body of
new matter has been made accessible in print during the
half century that has elapsed since Cosmo Innes and Joseph
Robertson rendered their monumental service in the publica-
tion of Glasgow Records.
Within the last few years I have occasionally contributed
to the newspapers articles bearing on such aspects of
Glasgow and its institutions as seemed to me to be worthy
of elucidation and likely to be acceptable. Many facts not
generally known, and derived from both published and
unpublished sources, were thus brought into fuller notice,
though, for preserving coherency in narrative, there were
frequent repetitions of particulars which may be found in
one or other of the many meritorious works on local history
already in existence. The present volume is based on
articles the bulk of which appeared in the Glasgow Herald
and the remainder in the Glasgow Evening Times. The
editors of these journals have courteously consented to the
republication of the articles, which now appear in an altered
and expanded torm, the opportunity having been taken of
introducing new matter to a considerable extent. In dealing
with some subjects perhaps too much brevity has been
PREFACE vii
exercised, but in most of these cases the reader is referred
to authorities where further details are given.
For the illustrations reproduced from Glasghu Fades
thanks are gratefully tendered to Mr. David Murray,
LL.D., who with characteristic liberality lent the blocks from
which they have been printed. Two of these illustrations —
the seals on page 103 — have been frequently attributed to
Bishop John Wishart, but they are evidently the seals of
Bishop Lindesay.
R. R.
Glasgow, December, 1907.
LIST OF AUTHORITIES WITH ABBREVIATED
REFERENCES
A.P.S. — Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland. (Record Edition, 1814-75.)
Abhe'j of Paisley. — The Abbey of Paisley from its Foundation till its Dissolu-
tion. By J. Cameron Lees, D.D. (1878.)
Ada Auditorum. — Acts of the Lords Auditors of Causes and Complaints,
1466-94. Edited by Thomas Thomson. (Record Series, 1839.)
Acta Dominorum Coticilii. — Acts of the Lords of Council in Civil Cases,
1478-95. Edited by Thomas Thomson. (Record Series, 1839.)
Ancient Laws. — Ancient Laws and Customs of the Burghs of Scotland,
A.D. 1 124-1424. Edited by Cosmo Innes. (Scottish Burgh Records
Society. 1868.)
Annals. — The Annals of Glasgow. By James Cleland, LL.D. (1829.)
Bannatyne^s Journal. — Journal of the Transactions in Scotland, 1570-3. By
Richard Bannatyne, Secretary to John Knox. (1806.)
Battle of Langside. — The Battle of Langside, 1568. By Alexander M. Scott.
(1885.) See also Transactions of Glasgow Archsological Society,
2nd Series, L pp. 281-300.
Caledonia. — Caledonia : or an Account, Historical and Topographic, of North
Britain. By George Chalmers. 3 vols. (1807-24.)
Conv. Rec. — Records of the Convention of Royal Burghs. 5 vols. 1295-1738.
Edited by Sir James D. Marwick. (1866-85.)
Description, etc. — See Lanark and Renfrew.
Dice. Reg. — Rental Book of Diocese of Glasgow, a.d. 1509-70. Prot. — Liber
Protocollorum M. Cuthberti Simonis, Notarii Publici et Scribae Capituli
Glasguensis, a.d. 1499-1513. 2 vols. Edited by Joseph Bain and
Rev. Charles Rogers. (Grampian Club, 1875.)
Domesday Book and Beyond. — Three Essays in the Early History of England.
By Frederick W. Maitland. (1897.)
ix
X LIST OF AUTHORITIES
Early History. — Sketches of Early Scotch History and Social Progress. By
Cosmo Innes. (1861.)
Exchequer Rolls. — The Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, a.d. 1264 et seq. (Scottish
Record Publications, 1878 et seq.")
Fasti Ecclesia. — Fasti Ecclesise Scoticanae : The Succession of Ministers in
the Parish Churches of Scotland, 1560 et seq. By Hew Scott, D.D.
(Vol. II., 1868.)
Glasg. Chart. — Charters and other Documents relating to the City of Glasgow.
Edited by Sir James D. Marwick, LL.D., for the Scottish Burgh Records
Society and the Corporation of Glasgow. Vol. I., 1 175-1649, pt. i.
(1897) ; pt. ii. (1894). Vol. II., 1434-1648 (1906).
Glasg. Fades. — Glasghu Facies : The History of Glasgow from the Earliest
to the Present Time. Edited by J. F. S. Gordon, D.D. 2 vols. (1873.)
Glasg. Prot. — Abstracts of Protocols of the Town Clerks of Glasgow. Edited
by Robert Renwick. Vols. I.-XI., a.d. 15 30-1 600. (Printed for Sub-
scribers, 1 894- 1 900.)
Glasg. Rec. — Extracts from the Records of the Burgh of Glasgow. Edited by
Sir James D. Marwick for the Scottish Burgh Records Society. Vol. I.,
1573-1642 (1876); II., 1630-62 (1881); III., 1663-90 (1905); IV.,
1 69 1 et seq. (in the press).
Hist. MSS. Reports. — Reports of the Royal Commission on Historical Manu-
scripts. (1870 et. seq.)
Historical Glasgow. — Historical Glasgow (by R. Renwick) contained in British
Association Hand-Book on Archseology, etc. (1901.)
History of Corn Milling. By Richard Bennet and John Elton. (1898- 1904.)
Hosp. of St. Nicholas. — Memorial relative to the Hospital of St. Nicholas.
(1859.) By Sir Michael Connal. (Printed, 1862, from Transactions of
Glasgow Archaeological Society, ist Series, Vol. I. pp. 135-79.)
Lanark Charters. — Extracts from the Records of the Burgh of Lanark ; with
Charters and Documents relating to the Burgh, 1 150-1722. Edited by
R. Renwick. (1893.)
Lanark and Renfrew. — Descriptions of the Sheriffdoms of Lanark and Renfrew.
Compiled, about 1710, by William Hamilton of Wishaw. With Notes
and Appendix. (Reprint, 1831, of Maitland Club Publication, 1828.)
Laws Memorials ; or The Memorable Things that fell out within the Island of
Britain from 1638 to 1684. By the Rev. Mr. Robert Law. (1818.)
Legal Antiquities. — Lectures on Scotch Legal Antiquities. By Cosmo Innes.
(1872.)
Lib. Col. — (I.) Liber CoUegii Nostre Domine : Registrum Ecclesie B.V. Marie
et Anne infra Muros Civitatis Glasguensis, 1549; (^^O Munimenta
LIST OF AUTHORITIES xi
Fratrum Predicatorum de Glasgu, 1 265-1 559; (III.) Appendix: Carte
quedam Glasguensis, 1 179-1567. Edited by Joseph Robertson, LL.D.
(Maitland Club, 1846.)
Life of James Wodroiv. — Life of James Wodrow, A.M., Professor of Divinity in
the University of Glasgow^, 1692-1707. Written by his son, Robert
Wodrow, A.M. (1828.)
Maitland Club Miscellany. — Miscellany of the Maitland Club. Vol. I. (1833.)
Merchants' House. — View of the Merchants' House of Glasgow. (1866.)
Middle Ages. — Scotland in the Middle Ages, By Cosmo Innes. (i860.)
Miscellaneous Papers. — Miscellaneous Papers, principally illustrative of events
in the reigns of Queen Mary and King James VI. (Maitland Club,
1834-)
M5. Chartulary. — M.S. Chartulary of the City of Glasgow.
MS. Counc. Rec. or Reg. — M.S. Records of the Town Council of Glasgow.
MS. Inventory. — MS. Inventory of Title Deeds of the City of Glasgow.
MS. Parsonage ofGlasgozv. — Collection of Documents relating to Parsonage.
MS. Prot. Book. — MS. Protocol Books of the Town Clerks of Glasgow.
MS. Sas. Reg. — MS. Register of Sasines kept for the Burgh of Glasgow.
Munimenta. — Munimenta Alme Universitatis Glasguensis — Records of the
University of Glasgow from its Foundation till 1727. Vols. I. -III.
(Maitland Club, 1854.)
M'Ure. — The History of Glasgow by John M'Ure. A new edition. (1830.)
Old Glasgow. — Old Glasgow, the Place and the People. From the Roman
Occupation to the 1 8th Century. By Andrew Macgeorge. (1880.)
Origines Parochiales. — Origines Parochiales Scotiae : The Antiquities, Ecclesias-
tical and Territorial, of the Parishes of Scotland. Vol. I. (1851.)
Paisley Abbey. — See Abbey.
Paisley Reg. — Registrum Monasterii de Passelet, 1 163-1529. (Reprint, 1877,
of Maitland Club Publication, 1832.)
Papal Reg. — Calendar of Entries in the Papal Registers relating to Great Britain
and Ireland.
Parish of Strathblane. — The Parish of Strathblane and its Inhabitants, from
early times. By John Guthrie Smith. (1886.)
Past and Present. — Glasgow, Past and Present. By " Senex " and others.
3 vols. (185 1-6.)
Privy Council Reg. — The Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, 1 545 et seq.
(Scottish Record Publications, 1877 ^^ -f^f •)
xii LIST OF AUTHORITIES
Reg. Episc. — Registrum Episcopatus Glasguensis. Munimenta Ecclesie Metro-
politane Glasguensis a sede restaurata seculo ineunte XII. ad Reformatam
Religionem. Edited by Cosmo Innes. (Maitland Club, 1843.)
Regality Club. — Publications of the Regality Club. (Printed for the Club by
James MacLehose & Sons, 1 886-1906,)
Reg. de Neubotle. — Registrum S. Marie de Neubotle, 1 140-1528. (Bannatyne
Club, 1849.)
Reg. Mag. Sig. — Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum. The Register of
the Great Seal of Scotland, 1306 ei se^. (Scottish Record Publications.)
ReWs Old Glasgow. — Old Glasgow and its Environs, Historical and Topo-
graphical. By"Senex." (1864,)
Renfrew Collections. — Archaeological and Historical Collections relating to the
County of Renfrew. Vol. I. (A, Gardner. 1885.)
Scots Lore. — Scots Lore, a Journal dedicated to Historical Research. (Glasgow,
18950
Spalding Club Misc. — The Miscellany of the Spalding Club. Vol. II. (Aber-
deen. 1842.)
Transactions Glasg. Arch. — Transactions of the Glasgow Archaeological Society.
Water Supply, etc. — Glasgow : The Water Supply of the City from the earliest
period of Record ; with Notes on various developments of the City till
the close of 1900. By Sir James D. Marwick. (1901.)
Wodrow's Church History. — The History of the Sufferings of the Church of
Scotland, from the Restoration to the Revolution. By the Rev. Robert
Wodrow. 4 vols. (1829-30.)
Wodrow^s Collections {Weems). — Collections upon the Lives of the Reformers and
Most Eminent Ministers of the Church of Scotland, Vol, II. pt. ii. —
Mr. David Weems, By Rev. Robert Wodrow. (Maitland Club, 1848,)
Wodrow Miscellany. — The Miscellany of the Wodrow Society, Vol, I. (1844.)
Works of John Knox. — The Works of John Knox, collected and edited by David
Laing. 6 vols. (1895.)
CONTENTS
PAGE
I. Trongate and its Surroundings, i
Formation of the Burgh — Market and market cross — Primitive
community — Tolbooth — Chapel of St. Mary — Toft of Mel-
rose Abbey — Ports or gates — Ladygait — Street of St. Teneu
— West Port in Trongate — Site of Port changed — Westergate,
now Argyle Street — Long Croft and Pallioun Croft — Rams-
horn and Meadowflat — St. Tenew's (Enoch's) Croft — Mutland
Croft — Wynds — Animals trespassing in Burgh roods — Alley
at New Kirk yards — King Street and Princes Street.
II. ROTTENROW AND HiGH StREET, 1 3
" Ratounraw," an ancient thoroughfare — Old rath or fort
— Drygate — Bishop's Castle — Lands of Subdean — Deanside
and Provanside — Barns and rigs — Doghillok — Junction of
Canals — Stirlings Road — Prebendal manses — Bowastie — Auld
Pedagogy — " Monks' House " belonging to Paisley Abbey —
Old tenements in High Street — Decay of Townhead district
at Reformation — Duke Street and George Street — Duke of
Montrose's Mansion — Wallace and the battle of the Bell o'
the Brae.
III. Gallowgate, . . . . '. . . . 31
Jurisdiction of " pit and gallows" — The " Gallow Aiker" —
The "Hangman's Brae" — Executioner appointed — Gallow-
gate burn and bridge — Eaglesham Croft — Well of St. Kentigern
xiii
xiv CONTENTS
PAGE
or "Sanct Mungowis Spoutis" — Poldrait — Merkdailly — Cast-
ing trenches — East Port — Saracen Head Inn — Gallowmuir
divided in lots — Camlachie lands and burn — Butts for
Archer}" — Infantry Barracks.
London Street : Glasgow Lotteries, ... 36
Congested areas near Cross — New suburbs at Monteith Row
and Calton Green — Scheme of new thoroughfares — Commis-
sioners for forming London Street — Tradesland and Merchants
Coffee House — Financial Schemes for new street and buildings
— " The Glasgow Lotteries."
IV. Walkergate or Saltmarket Street and Bridgegate, 48
Fullers or walkers — Mills near confluence of Molendinar and
Camlachie burns — New walk mill on Kelvin — Linningshaugh
and New Green — South Port or Nether Barres-yet — Market
for salt — Silvercraigs land — Sir Walter Scott — Visit of Crom-
well— Inscribed stone from dwelling of Vicars Choral — Weel
Close — St. Andrew's Square — Buildings in Bridgegate — Bridge
over Clyde — Little Green and Goose Dubs — Dwellings of
Provost Bell and the lairds of Blythswood — Merchants'
Hospital and Hall — Visit of Duke of York — Ship Bank —
Bridges destroyed by floods — Skinner's Green — Sawmill liti-
gation— Slaughter-houses — Old Clothes Market — Modern
changes.
V. Stockwellgait and the Old Green, .... 66
Religious Houses having dwellings in various towns — Monks
of Aberbrothoc — Paisley Abbey — Knights Templars and
Knights of St. John — Fishergait — The Stock well — Melrose
Abbey's property in Glasgow — Tower belonging to Halls of
Fulbar — Old Green — Water Port — Rouping Common Good
and perambulating Marches — Foot-ball playing on " Fastrin's
Even " — Horses, Cows, and Calves grazed on Green — Build-
ings on Green and St. Enoch's Croft — Glasgow Harbour and
Broomielaw.
CONTENTS XV
PAGE
VI. Nelson Street akd Longcroft, 80
Admiral Nelson — Sir John Moore — St. Mary's Chapel, Tol-
booth and Exchange — Trongate and Bell's Wynd— Old Post
Office — Albion Streets— Candle-houses and Candleriggs —
Soapmaking — Sugar-worb — Fleshmarket — Mutton Market —
Slaughtering animals — Police Offices — Bowling Greens —
Meeting houses of Society of Friends or Quakers — Streets
opened throughout Longcroft.
VII. Barony and Regality of Glasgow, .... 98
Ancient possessions of the Bishops — Lands gifted by Scottish
Sovereigns — Jurisdiction exercised by early Prelates — Lands
assigned by Bishops to the burgesses — Bailie of Regality —
Early cultivators of soil — Serfs — Rentallen and feuars — Lands
bestowed on canons of the Cathedral — Bishops' Temporalities
at and subsequent to Reformation — Archbishop Beaton restored
to partial possession — Revenues resumed by Crown on abolition
of Episcopacy.
VIIL The County and Parish Divisions of Glasgow, . 118
Evolution of counties and parishes — Districts surrounding
Rutherglen and Renfrew — Barony and Regality of Glasgow —
Burgh of Lanark — Former administration of judicial business —
Renfrew barony and shire — Govan part of Glasgow barony —
Portions in Renfrewshire — Polmadie and Crosshill — Govan
and Cathcart parishes — Gorbals parish — Partick in Govan
parish — City and Barony parishes amalgamated.
IX. The Common Good and the Early Territorial
Possessions of the City, . . . . .128
Classification of Common Good — Supervision by Great
Chamberlain — Origin of Common Good — Annual revenues
leased to Burgesses — Apportionment of lands — Coal and other
minerals — Boundaries of lands — Royalty march stones — St.
Enoch's Burn and St. Rollokis Loch or Plummaris Hole —
xvi CONTENTS
PAGE
Broomhill and Parson's Croft — Barony Glebe — Litigation as
to Burgh boundary — Common Good and Church property —
Alienations of lands — Open-air assemblies on Summerhill —
Sale of Town's Commons — Modern Purchases — Accounts of
Common Good.
X. The Old Grain Mills of Glasgow, . . . . 151
Corn-milling in early stages — Handmills — Windmill at
Gorbals — ^Water-mills in Glasgow barony — Mills on Molen-
dinar Burn and River Kelvin — Partick mills — Thirlage and
Multures — Mills acquired by Town — Subdean Mills — Water
supplies from Hogganfield and Frankfield Lochs — Provan-mill
— Mills disposed of or abandoned.
XL Early Customs and Taxations, . . . . .163
Markets in Burghs established by David L — Customs leviable
in Glasgow Markets — Ladle duty — Dues of the Tron and
Weighhouse — Part of revenues assigned to the College —
Impost on herring and other fish for repair of Clyde bridge —
Impost on ale and beer — Assessment for the Poor — Cess for
exclusive privilege of trade — Petty Customs commuted.
Xn. The Burgh Court, 172
Burgh Courts imported from England — Old Burgh laws —
Diocesan, Regality and Sheriff Courts — Three head courts —
Exclusive jurisdiction — Public Courts — Court books — Gorbals
baronial court — River Bailie court — Court of record — Ordinary
and summary courts — Police cases — Removal of Tenants.
XIII. Queen's Park and the Old Camp,. . . .182
Mistaken accounts of camp — Belongs to type of British forts
— Abington Mote — Arbory Fort — Cathcart territory — Lang-
side — Lands of Dunfermline abbey — Earl of Eglinton —
Newlands, Taggart land and Muirlie.
CONTENTS xvii
PAGE
XIV. The Black Friars and Grey Friars in Glasgow, 189
Origin of Preaching or Black Friars — Their settlement in
Glasgow — Acquisition of lands — Endowment by David de
Cadioch — ^'icar general and Provincial of Friars in Scotland —
Reformation changes — Blaclcfriars' Kirk — Franciscan or Grey
Friars — Site occupied in Glasgow — Craigmak or Craignaught
— Dispersion of Friars.
Glasgow Fair: Changes in the Dates for holding the Fair, 204
XV. Prebendal Endowments in Glasgow Barony, . . 207
Prebends or benefices held by canons — Prebend of Barlanark
or Provand — Kings James II. and IV. honorary canons — Lands
and barony of Provan — Prebend of the Treasurer — Easter
Craigs — Prebend of the Subdean — Wester Craigs — Deanside
and Provanside — Prebend of the Parson of Erskine — Blyths-
wood — Manse — " Darnley's Cottage " and Inscribed Stone —
Prebend of the Parson of Glasgow — Craignaught, Parson's
Croft and lands near Brumelaw — -Brumewaird — Teinds of
herring and other fish — Canon lands in Ayrshire — " Assyse
herrings" and "assyse aill" of the West Seas — Prebend of
Renfrew — " Cranstounhill or Drummoderis Aikeris."
XVI. Pre-Reformation Chapels and Churches in
Glasgow, ........ 225
Chapel of St. Tenew — Chapel of St. Thomas the Martyr —
Chapel of the Virgin Mary— Church or Chapel of Little St.
Kentigern — Church of St. Roche — The Collegiate Church of
St. Mary and St. Anne.
XVII. Pre-Reformation Hospitals of Glasgow, . . 247
The Hospital of St. John of Polmadie — Leper Hospital at
Gorbals — Hospital of St. Nicholas — Blacader's Hospital near
Stablegreen.
xviii CONTENTS
PAGE
XVIII. Provision for the City Ministers of Glasgow, . 266
Teinds assigned to clergy — Parsonage and vicarage teinds —
Pre-Reformation parsons and vicars — "Duncan Laider or Mac-
gregor's Testament " — Provision for ministers at the Reforma-
tion— David Wemes, first minister of Glasgow — His allowance
from teinds — Readers — Gift of church livings — Transfer of
ecclesiastical revenues to College — Other Ministers appointed
— First stipend wholly paid from the Common Good — Tacks of
Teinds to Town — Liability for stipends — Financial deficiencies.
XIX. Earliest Meeting-Houses of Glasgow Noncon-
formists, . . . . . . . .281
Attempts to plant Episcopacy — Covenanters and Conventicles
— Repressive proceedings against Nonconformist preachers —
Toleration proclaimed and Meeting-houses established —
Merkdailly Meeting-house — James Wodrow, minister —
Wynd Meeting-house and successive churches.
XX. Early Kirk-Sessions of Glasgow, .... 289
Formation of Kirk-Sessions — Kirk-Session records of Glasgow
— Weekly Meetings of Session — Annual elections of elders
and deacons — Magistrates to enforce decrees of Session — Col-
lections for and donations to the Poor — Absentees from Kirk —
John Howesone, minister of Cambuslang — Punishment for
working on Sunday — Against observance of Yule — Sunday
services and baptism — Communion services and furnishing
communion elements — Examinations by ministers — Arrange-
ments as to preaching — Repairs on cathedral and proposed
alterations — Probable germ of story about threatened destruc-
tion of cathedral — Repairs and alterations on cathedral choir —
Commissary courts in south-west tower of cathedral — Com-
missary courts not to be held in choir ; jackdaws kept out —
Church censures ; on the pillar or standing " laiche " — Want
of fixed seats in churches ; temporary accommodation — Bell-
ringers and keepers of the " knok " ; dead or skellet bell —
Animals trespassing in kirkyard ; duties and fees of " beddell "
CONTENTS XIX
PAGE
— Divination known as " turning the riddle " — Delinquents
imprisoned in steeple, " cartit and doukit" — Application of
"penitents silver" — Punishment for flyting, banning and
evil speaking — Isolation of excommunicated persons — Accusa-
tion against Bishop Cuninghame — Regulations for celebration
of marriages — Fences of High Kirk yard ; against game-playing
there — Sabbath breaking and absence from church — Appoint-
ments of music teachers — Sympathy with and donations to
foreigners.
XXI. The Old Grammar School of Glasgow, . . 325
Chancellor of cathedral to regulate schools — Gift of site of
Grammar School — Magistrates and council to be patrons —
Questions between chancellor and municipality — Endowments
of school — Appointments of masters and doctors — Hours of
school attendance — Recreations — Archery — Discipline — Other
schools, " sang " and " Scottis " or " Inglis " — French tongue,
dancing and fencing — Professor of navigation — Old Grammar
School superseded — Disposal of building and site.
Index, ........... 337
LISTS OF ILLUSTRATIONS
(i) FULL-PAGE PLATES.
The Trongate in 1849,. ......
The Cathedral from the West, .....
Port Dundas, with Canal House and Passage Boat,
Cottages in High Street, ......
Inscribed Stone from the Place of the Vicar's Choral, .
Stockwell Bridge, 1853,
View of old Bridge, with approach from River to Water Port, c.
Corner of Stockwell and Clyde Street, ....
Post Office, Nelson Street,
Partick Castle in 1817,
Drawing the Salmon Nets at Govan, ....
Gorbals from South End of the Bridge
Main Street, Gorbals, .......
The Clyde at Govan, .......
Broomielaw Bridge, .......
Old Bridge and Houses at Partick, ....
Interior of Baronial Hall, Gorbals, . . . . •
Mace of the University of Glasgow and Coats of Arms, .
Seals of (1) David Raite and (2) The Friars Preachers of Glasgow
xxi
PAGE
. Ft
ontispiece
16
24
40
5^
. 64
1776
72
80
82
104
112
120
124
126
152
160
176
192
sgow.
194
XXll
LISTS OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
City Arms inscribed on Stone over entrance to Blackfriars Church,
1699, ........
Glasgow Fair about 1832, .
The Clyde at Govan during widening operations, 1859,
A View of the City of Glasgow by John M'Ure, .
Glasgow Cathedral, 1794, .....
The Drygate with Cathedral, ....
Branks and Stocks, ......
Glasgow Cathedral, about 1775,
Glasgow Cathedral Bible, Hour Glass, and Sand Glass,
(2) PRINTED WITH LETTERPRESS.
The Old Tolbooth,
The Black Bull Inn, Argyle Street,
Drygate, with Manse,
Front View of "The Auld Pedagogy," Rotten Row,
Back View of "The Auld Pedagogy,"
Old Tenement, foot of High Street, west side,
Back Land of Houses No. 157 High Street,
The Duke's Lodging (Back View, No. i),
The Duke's Lodging (Back View, No. 2),
The Duke's Lodging, Drygate (Front View),
Barrowfield House,
Camlachie Mansion,
Infantry Barracks, Gallowgate,
Silvercraigs Land, foot of Saltmarket,
St. Andrew's Established Church, .
Old Stock well Bridge, 1825, .
East View of the Bridgegate from Stockwell,
LISTS OF ILLUSTRATIONS xxiii
PAGE
Residence of the Campbells of Blythswood, Bridgegate, ... 60
The Merchants' Hall, 61
Tenement at the Foot of Stockwell, ...... 76
Old Town Hospital, Great Clyde Street, 77
The First Broomielaw Bridge, 1800, ...... 78
Sir John Moore's Birthplace, . . . . . . . . 81
The Virginia Mansion, ......... 92
Front View of Hutchesons' Hospital, Trongate, . . . . 93
Back View of Hutchesons' Hospital, Trongate, . . . . 93
Grahamston, Argyle Street, in 1793, ...... 95
North Side of Argyle Street in 1793 (between Union Street and
Queen Street), . . . . ..... 95
The Shawfield Mansion, ........ 96
Seal and Counter Seal of Bishop Joceline, a.d. i 175-99, • • 99
Seal and Counter Seal of Bishop Florence, a.d. 1202-7, . . 99
Seal and Counter Seal of Bishop Walter, a.d. 1208-32, . . 100
Seal and Counter Seal of Bishop William de Bodington, a.d. 1233-58, loi
Seals of Bishop Robert Wishart, a.d. 1272-1316, .... 102
Seals of Bishop John de Lindesay, a.d. 1317-35, .... 103
Seal of Bishop Walter Wardlaw, a.d. 1368-89, .... 104
Seal of Bishop William Lauder, a.d. 1408-25, . . . .104
Seal of Bishop John Cameron, a.d. 1426-46, ..... 105
Seal of Bishop Andrew Muirhead, a.d. 1455-73, . • . .105
Seal of Bishop John Laing, a.d. 1474-82, ..... 106
Seal of Archbishop Robert Blackader, a.d. 1484-1508 (No. 1), . 107
Seal of Archbishop Robert Blackader, a.d. 1500 (No. 2), . . 107
Seal and Counter Seal of Archbishop Gavin Dunbar, a.d. 1524-27, 109
Seal and Counter Seal of Archbishop James Beaton, a.d. 1551-60, . 11 1
Seal and Counter Seal of Archbishop James Boyd, a.d. 1572-81, . 113
XXIV
LISTS OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Seal and Counter Seal of William Erskine, a.d. 1585-7, . . 115
View of Court-House at the Green, . . . . . .121
Partick Castle on the Kelvin, . . . . . . .126
Old Baronial Mansion, Gorbals, . . , . . . .178
Burgh and County Buildings, . . . . . . .181
Slezer's View of the Buildings of the College and Blackfriars, . 195
Black Friars' or College Church (Front View), in 1848, . . 198
Black Friars' or College Church (Back View), in 1848, . . .199
Sketch Plan, showing approximately the Place of the Greyfriars of
Glasgow and surrounding properties, ..... 203
Slezer's View of Glasgow from the Merchants' Park, or Necropolis, 2 i 3
Old House called " Lord Darnley's Cottage," . . . .218
Inscribed Stone from adjoining Building, . . . . .219
Episcopal Palace and Cathedral, . . . . . . .226
St. Enoch's Square and Church, . . . . . . .231
Range of Houses in Castle Street, partly taken down in 1844, . 257
Trades' Alms House, St. Nicholas' Hospital and Chapel, Bishop
Cameron's Tower, "Lord Darnley's Cottage," . . .259
The Dead or Skellet Bell, 1641, 314
View of the Old Grammar School, 1871, . . . . . 335
TRONGATE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS
AT the time when King William authorised Bishop Joceline
of Glasgow to have a Burgh that descriptive term had
lost much of its original signification of a Fort, under the
protection of which a market could be safely held. It had
rather come to imply a market town, equipped with all
the usual trading and judicial accessories. In accordance,
therefore, with the practice of the period the privileges con-
ferred by the Glasgow charter^ relate specially to a weekly
market and the customs derivable from it. By one of William's
statutes it was commanded that all merchandise should be
presented at the market and market crosses of the King's
burghs and there offered to the merchants, the custom dues
being paid to the King.- Each royal burgh had its shire or
district, the produce of which must come to its market ; and
the Bishop's charter was granted for the purpose of affording
corresponding benefits to him and his successors, as territorial
lords. In its relation to the district latterly known as the
barony and regality of Glasgow the Bishop's burgh occupied
the same position as the King's burghs bore to their respective
shires ; and while in the latter burghs the customs belonged
to the King, in the burgh of Glasgow they were payable to
^ G/asg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. i, 2. '^ Ancient Laws, p. 61.
A
2 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
the Bishop. In both classes of burghs the organisation was
similar and most of the early laws were indiscriminately
applicable to each.
That a primitive community of artificers and traders had
already settled on the banks of the Molendinar Burn, near
its confluence with the Clyde, need not be doubted, and it
may even be conjectured that initiatory markets had been
tried before authoritative sanction was secured by charter.
But when the administrative and judicial machinery of
the new burgh was fairly set in motion, accommodation for
the officials and their work would be required, while increased
commerce would bring an influx of strangers and lead to
the erection of additional booths and dwellings. Adjoining
the market cross was placed the tolbooth, originally the place
for collecting the toll or custom payable by those bringing
produce and goods to the market, and eventually the head-
quarters for municipal and judicial procedure ; and next to
this structure stood a chapel dedicated to the Virgin
Mary. Regarding the erection of the tolbooth and chapel
no contemporary record has been preserved,^ but it happens
that there exists a writing, dated within two or three years
of the charter, whereby Bishop Joceline granted to the monks
of Melrose " that toft in the burgh of Glasgow which Ranulf
of Hadintun built in the first building of the burgh, to
the use of the house of Maylros."^ It is not likely that
Melrose Abbey had more than one property in Glasgow,
and therefore it may be assumed that the twelfth century toft
^ The tolbooth shown in the illustration was erected on the site of its
predecessor, in 1626. Vacated in 1814, when the new jail and courthouses
at the Green were occupied, the main building was shortly afterwards
removed, but the original steeple still remains.
2 Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. p. 5.
TRONGATE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS 3
was the possession referred to on loth May, 1454, as the
"land of the lord Abbot of Melros," lying on the south
side of the street which then led from the cross to the chapel
of St. Tenu, latterly known as Trongate or its continuation,^
THE OLD TOLBUOTH.
For nearly four hundred years after its foundation the
Burgh kept within narrow limits, as these were defined by
the placing of ports or gates. The South Port was in
Saltmarket Street, or as it was anciently called Walker-gait,
indicating perhaps the thoroughfare leading to a Walk-mill
frequented by walkers and other workers in cloth. Places
adjacent and situated on the banks of the Molendinar and
"^ LIB. Col. p. 174.
4 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
Camlachie Burns, which joined each other near the port,
long retained the names of Mihidam, Mihihill, and Crooks
of the Mihidam, indicating that at one time a mill or mills
were in operation in the vicinity. In sixteenth century
writings the South Port is usually styled Nether Barras-yet,^
probably because the gate was formed of wooden bars.
Leaving the port and keeping on the right bank of the united
burn, a track which developed into the modern Bridgegait
led to a bridge over Clyde which had existed in one form
or another since at least the thirteenth century. The West
Port was situated in Trongate and the East Port in Gallow-
gate. The latter stood on the west side of IVIolendinar Burn
till the year 1646, and even at the time of its final removal,
in 1754, it was only about 400 yards east of the cross. The
North Port was placed at a much greater distance from the
cross than were the others, but included in this stretch was
the area which prior to the Reformation was almost exclusively
possessed by the clergy and country lairds, as well as the
intermediate portion where, in the thirteenth century, the
Friars Preachers laid out their gardens. It is supposed that
the few buildings erected by the burgesses in High Street,
north of the market cross, previous to the Reformation,
reached no farther than the Grammar School on the one
side and the place of the Friars Preachers on the other.
The street branching west from the cross extended beyond
its port to a chapel dedicated at some remote but unknown
date to St. Tenu, the mother of St. Kentigern, and for this
reason it was usually designated St. Tenu's-gait. The chapel
has given its transformed name of St. Enoch to the square
which has absorbed its site, and accordingly its approximate
iQallowgate port is called "the Eyst Barresyet " in 153 1-2 {Glasg. Prot.
No. 1 1 12).
TRONGATE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS 5
position is well known. So early as the year 1426 a property
lying to the west of St. Mary's Chapel is described as lying
on the north side of the great street extending from the
market cross to the chapels of St. Thomas the Martyr and
" St. Tanew." ^ Our Lady-gait is another name which some-
times occurs, as in 1548-9, when a tenement is described
as lying " in via Sancte Teneu alias Beate Marie semper
Virginis."" In 1530 what appears to be the same property
is described, in the vernacular, as " lyand in our Ladye gait,
on the northt syid of the sammyne."^ About the middle
of the sixteenth century the present name Trongate, so called
on account of the tron or weighing apparatus being placed
there, comes into notice,^ and it gradually superseded the name
St. Tenu's-gait as applied to the portion of the street within
the port. Previous to 1588 the port was placed at the
head of the Old Wynd, but in that year the town council,
" calling to mind how necessar, profitable and comlie it
wilbe, to the decoratioun of the toun, to transport the West
Port, presentlie ruinous, and to be repaired of new, to the
Stokwalheid, and sua to includ the haill rew and houssis
betwix and thair within the toun," resolved to make the
change. This was done by selling the site, as staked off,
to Robert Chirneside of Possil, under an obligation to erect
buildings of a specified design. The piece of ground thus
given oflF measured 18 ells across the street and 24 feet
in breadth. One half of the 24 feet was to be within and
the other half without the port. The port was to be of
such dimensions as the town council should determine ;
" with powar to the said Robert Chirnesyde to big als
^ Lib. Col. p. 244. The name of St. Kentigern's mother has many
variations in spelling.
2/^. p. 39. ^Glasg. Prot. No. 105 1, ^ Lib. Col. pp. 3, 6j, 117.
6 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
heich and braid abone the said port as he sail think expedient,
and that it sail nocht be lesum to him to big ony laiche
windois quhill he be jeist heicht, except sum slitt windois of
halfe futt wyde, being stenschorit." Some discussion after-
wards arose as to the quantity of ground sold, in the course
of which it was mentioned that the port was 12 feet wide,
but the question was settled by the town council repurchasing
the site in 1613.^ The port stood till 1751, but on 22nd
January of that year the proprietors on the south side of
the street represented that they were about to take down
their buildings and to reconstruct them in a line with some
new tenements, " and before that can be done the said port
must be taken down, and that they will come in the councill's
will for the value of the stones." The town council agreed
to take down the port, the petitioners paying the value of
the stones, and the new line of street being fixed by the
magistrates, dean of guild and deacon-convener.^ Beyond
the port the street was for some time called Westergate,
but for the last 150 years that name has been superseded
by the present Argyle Street. In 1757 the site of the
Black Bull Inn, erected by the Glasgow Highland Society
within a year or two after that date, is described as lying
on the east side of the new street called Virginia Street
and the north side of the " street called St. Enoch's-gate,
thereafter called Wester-gate, now called Argyle Street."^
North of St. Tenu's-gait were two crofts, Long Croft
and Palzeoun or Pallioun Croft, divided from each other
by the Cow Lone, now Queen Street, leading to the Wester
Common. Long Croft extended westward from the High
^ Glasg. Rec. i. pp. 125, 131 ; Glasg. Prot. Nos. 3275, 3313.
2M5. Counc. Reg. p. 145.
8M5. Zai. Reg. 1757, p. 58 ; 1760, p. 56.
TRONGATE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS 7
Street tenements, and had as its north boundary a passage
separating it from the lands of Ramshorn. This passage,
in the line of the present Ingram Street, is called *' Ranaldis
Wynde " in writs dated 1470 and 1511,^ and subsequently
it was at different times known as Grammar School Wynd,
Back Cow Lone and Canon Street. Pallioun Croft, through
THE BLACK BULL INN, ARGYLE STREET.
which the lower part of Buchanan Street now passes, had
on its west side St. Enoch's Burn, at this point forming the
boundary between the burgh and the lands of Blythswood,
and on the north was Meadowflat, long held by the Bishops'
rentallers in connection with Ramshorn."^ These crofts were
"^ Munitnenta, i. p. 23 ; Glasg. Prot. No. 3399.
2 Ramshorn and Meadowflat, embracing what is now George Square and
the site of the Municipal Buildings, were purchased by the town council in
1694. See particulars in Glasg. Prot. Nos, 1096, 3302, 3399 ; Glusg. Chart.
ii. pp. 251-64.
8 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
possessed by various owners, in *' rigs " generally running
north and south along the whole depth, and before being
appropriated for building purposes were used for the raising
of crops. A barn for the storage of grain or other produce,
and a malt kiln, required in the process of brewing beer,
were the usual adjuncts of these small holdings. This
accounts for the frequent references to such erections in
protocols and title deeds.
A croft and cemetery surrounding the old chapel of St.
Tenu, with a tower and its grounds at the corner of Stock-
well Street, lay between St. Tenu's Street and the Old Green
which stretched along the north bank of the river. East
of Stockwell Street tenements was a croft called, in a writ
of 1454, Muthall Croft, in another of 1487 Mutalcroft,^ and
in sixteenth century protocols Mutland Croft. This land,
like the other crofts, was possessed by various owners,
including the Friars Preachers and the Hospital of St.
Nicholas, the latter drawing feuduties from its " rigs " in
the croft till the present day.^ The western portion of the
croft belonged to the Lindsays of Dunrod and Kittokside,
an ancient Renfrewshire family long connected with Glasgow
as owners of property and otherwise. Robert Lindsay of
Dunrod was provost of Glasgow in 1560-2. In giving off
their lands for building purposes the Lindsays reserved the
two passages from Trongate to Bridgegate known by the
alternative names of Old and New Wynds or Lindsay's
Wester and Easter Wynds. The New or Easter Wynd
appears to have been formed about the year 1573. In that
year David Lyndsaye of Kittoksyde feued to John Paterson,
skinner, a piece of Mutland Croft, " three rigs in breadth,
^Lib. Col. pp. 174, 200.
2 See Rental in Glasg. Chart, ii. pp. 626-30.
TRONGATE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS 9
excepting a passage three ells broad," and the feuars became
bound " to uphold the gate of the close for preserving the
croft from all damage of animals and destruction of crops
till another tenement or house is built on the north." ^ The
magistrates had about that time issued general regulations
against sheep being pastured in the burgh roods, and they
ordained that *' thair be na swyn nor geis haldin nor
pasturat within the burro rudis about the town bot haldin
bund in houssis." Notwithstanding such regulations the
records show that " lows swyn " were occasionally found
" gangand on the gait," ^ and this explains the precautionary
obligations imposed on the feuars. Lindsay's "rigs" adjoined
those on the east belonging to Sir David Mayne, a notary,
whose predecessor is commemorated in the designation of
a wynd called in a writ of 1548 "the vennel of John
Mayn."=5 This wynd, called Maynes Wynd, Mains Wynd,
or Back Wynd, existed till recently, but has been closed as
a thoroughfare under the authority of the Improvements
Act of 1897. Eastward of Maynes Wynd was the Alley,
on each side of which were the New Kirk yards, at one
time possessed by the prebendaries of the Collegiate church
of St. Mary and St. Anne, on the site now occupied by the
Tron Kirk. In the year 1680 the town council purchased
a ruinous tenement, which had been three years previously
destroyed by fire, with the view of forming a lane " for free
passage from the Saltmercat to the Trongait, tending to the
1 Glasg. Prot. Nos. 1998, 3054.
^Glnsg. Rec. i. pp. 47, 63, 74, 285. By an old burgh law swine
and geese found trespassing and doing damage could be slain and eaten,
the first process with the geese being to take ofF their heads and "festen
the nebbis in the erd " {Jncieni Laws and Customs, p. 1 79).
^Lib. Col. p. 115 ; Glasg. Prot. No. 1924.
lo GLASGOW MEMORIALS
benefeit of the rest of the housis thereaboutis, for moir
easie and quick service in caice of any sudden or accidentale
fire hereafter (as God avert)." ^ The lane thus formed was
at first called Gibson's Wynd, afterwards Princes Street, and
as now widened bears the name of Parnie Street.
Buildings gradually spread over Mutland Croft, one of the
more notable being the Wynd Church, built, says M*Ure,
*' by the citizens upon King James the VII. his toleration,
anno 1685, for the behoove of the presbyterian persuasion."^
It was situated between the New Wynd and Maynes Wynd.
The building having fallen into decay, the congregation
removed to a new church, which had been erected in St.
Andrew's Square, and the " thatch roof," timber, glasswork,
and iron-work were sold in 1753 and the ground ordered to
be cleared, with the view of the site being used for a "green"
or vegetable market. Another building, however, was erected
there and opened as the Wynd Parish Church in 1762. In
1807 the congregation left for St. George's Church, and
thereafter the Green Market occupied the site till 1852 when
accommodation for that market was provided in the Candle-
riggs Bazaar.
For nearly forty years after the erection of the first Wynd
Church the three narrow lanes already described continued
to be used as the principal accesses between the Trongate
and Bridgegate, but inconvenience was felt, and the civic
authorities set about a street improvement scheme. Candle-
riggs Street, running through Long Croft between Trongate
and Grammar School Wynd, had been opened in 1720,
and a continuation, in the line of that street, southward
to Bridgegate seemed desirable. A council minute, dated
^ Glasg. Rec. iii. p. 277 ; Glasg. Chart, ii. p. 375.
2M'Ure, p. 202.
TRONGATE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS ii
25th April, 1722, narrates that the town had, *' with great
charge and expense, purchased several lands and yeards in
the Tronegate opposite to the Candlerig Street," and were
making farther purchases for the purpose of forming the
southward street, " not only for beautifying the city, but
also for the better accommodation of the inhabitants and
people resorting thereto, and for the more easie passage from
one street to another." It was agreed that the new street
should be built in a straight line so far as could be done,
that it should be thirty feet in width betwixt the '' strand
or gutter " on each side, with 2^ feet farther betwixt the
gutters and house fronts, making thirty-five feet in all ;
that the height should be three stories and garrets, built " in
a decent and uniform manner and after one and the same
moddell," and that the fronts should be of *' ashler work,"
and the front windows six feet in height and three feet in
breadth.^ The street thus formed was named King Street,
it being probably considered in those days of Jacobite unrest
that there was safety in not being too specific. About the
same time Gibson's Wynd was extended so as to connect
King Street with Saltmarket, and the name was then changed
to Princes Street.
The price at which steadings in King Street and Princes
Street were disposed of to purchasers in 1724 was £1 Scots
(is. 8d. sterling) per square ell. Under the reconstruction
scheme authorised by the act of 1897 it was anticipated
that the return on expenditure would be equal to a
selling price of ;^I2 to ;^i8 per square yard, an increase
in value of more than a hundredfold, after making due
allowance for monetary variation. It happens that one
of the properties in King Street, recently purchased by the
^MS. Council Reg. xx. pp. 496-7.
12 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
Corporation, had been in the possession of successive genera-
tions of the same family since 1727, or three years after
the street was opened,^ a very exceptional circumstance in
connection with house property in a commercial city.
1 Purchase No. 23 ; acquired by James Nisbett, late deacon of the wrights
in Glasgow, 1727, and sold by J. More Nisbett of Cairnhill in 1898.
II.
ROTTENROW AND HIGH STREET
AS compared with the trading premises near the cross, dwell-
ings in the upper part of High Street, came into existence
at a much earlier period and under very different conditions.
Rottenrow, or as it is termed in ancient writings Ratounraw,
from which High Street branched southwardly, is perhaps
the oldest thoroughfare in the city, belonging as it does
to the earlier Glasgow which preceded the twelfth century
burgh by a period both remote and uncertain. The prefix
" Rat " is believed to come from the Celtic Rath^ a fort or
homestead ; " raw " is the Scottish synonym for street, and
with these it was easy to arrive at the colloquial Ratounraw,
a common street name in the ancient towns of Scotland, and
simply meaning the street or road leading to the fort. At
Ratounraw accordingly the city of Glasgow may be assumed
to have had its beginning, and here some primitive chief
and his warlike tribe may have received from Ninian, the
evangelist, that glimmering of civilisation which, if twelfth
century tradition can be relied on, had not wholly disappeared
at the coming of St. Kentigern. For those shadowy times
one has little more than conjecture to depend on, but there
is some ground for believing that part of the original rath
remained conspicuous till the end of the sixteenth century.
14 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
On 27th July, 1599/ the town council instructed workmen
" to tak the know of grummell at the Drygate heid to the
Greyn and uther places of the towne to full upe the hoillis
about the towne." Drygate was the street forming the
eastward continuation of Ratounraw, and its " heid " was
at the point where High Street intersected both. " Know
DRYGATE, WITH MANSE
of grummell " literally meant a little hill of gravel or soil,
just the material of which an old fort would consist. The
" know " must have been of considerable dimensions seeing it
was to be applied in filling up several cavities about the town,
and it seems not unjustifiable to conclude that it was no
other than the remains of the old rath. The bishops' castle,
first heard of in the thirteenth century, was situated farther
north though its palisaded enclosure may have extended as
far as the rath and even appropriated part of its earthwork.
As the clergy connected with the cathedral increased in
^ Glasg. Rec. i. p. 195.
ROTTENROW AND HIGH STREET 15
numbers additional buildings would be required for their
residences, and the want of farther accommodation seems to
have been felt at the end of Bishop Bondington's episcopate,
1233-58, as the canons then agreed that if any one of them
should be elected bishop he should remove his " pallacium "
which stood without the castle and give its site, with
adjoining ground, for houses to the canons. Pallacium here,
and likewise in a similar resolution passed when the next
vacancy in the bishopric occurred,^ seems to have meant
palisaded enclosure, and in the course of time the houses
of the clergy occupied not only the spare ground surrounding
the castle but also much of the building space along both
Rottenrow and Drygate.^ The latter street when it first
appears on record, in 14 10, is called Dreggate,^ a form which
does not support the theory, suggested by its later rendering
of Dry-gait (Latinised Via Arida)^ that the street was so
named because it crossed the Molendinar Burn by a bridge,
a convenience which some of the other "gaits" did not
possess. Like the other principal thoroughfares Drygate had
a port or gate which appears to have been placed at the
bridge.
^Reg. Ep'isc, Nos, 208, 213.
^ For sites of the prebendal manses and other buildings in the Townhead
district, see Plan appended to Glasgow Protocols, vol. xi.
^Lib. Col. p. 238; also in 1424, p. 242, and in 1454, p. 175.
^ Glasg. Prot. Nos. 174, 505. Sometimes it is called the street from
the Quadrivium to the east bridge {lb. No. 92). Quadrivium was the
Latinised designation of the space at the intersection of the four streets,
High Street and Castle Street running north and south and Rottenrow
and Drygate running east and west. Dreg'^, dergy and dirgie, according
to Jamieson's Scottish Dictionary, meant a funeral service. Possibly Dreg-gait
(or Dregy-gait), in the vicinity of the old cemetery, was a street originally
associated with funeral processions and ceremonies.
1 6 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
Rottenrow port was situated a few paces west of the present
Weaver Street. Outside the port, a little more than a
century ago, a barn here and there, for the storage of crops
was all that was visible in the way of buildings. At one
time indeed the district was outside the burgh, jurisdiction
being exercised by a bailie appointed by the subdean, a
cathedral dignitary whose endowments embraced more than
40 acres of land in that locality. On this territory falling
to the crown, under the annexation act of 1587, King James
had it at his disposal, and in 161 3 he conveyed it to
the community of Glasgow as a reward for their public
services. Described in the charter as barns and yards lying
outside the Rattoun Raw port, 8 acres of land in Denesyde,
3 acres in Crubbis, 30 acres in Provansyde, and 3 acres
at the back of the barns on the north side of the highway,
the donation has the appearance of greater substantiality than
it really possessed. Most of the land was in the possession
of feuars or rentallers and the annual revenues were small ;
but the district was added to the burgh, the separate juris-
diction being abolished, so that this may be regarded as the
first extension of the city's municipal boundaries.^ As
indicating the manner in which the land was formerly
possessed, it may be mentioned that the site of the Electricity
Station, at the corner of Stirlings Road and Catherine Lane,
formed part of a larger piece which was described in a
title deed of 1671, as "these thrie short riggis of land,
which formerly were in ^yye, with these tua new barnes
situat and builded upon the head of the samen, quhich
formerlie were in one." The three rigs were burdened
with two annual payments, one of 5s. 8d. Scots to the town
and the other of 4s. Scots to the college. A pious owner
'^ Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 284-91 ; 11. pp. 621-2.
I
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ROTTENROW AND HIGH STREET 17
had evidently at one time bestowed the latter sum on one
of those altarages, the endowments of which devolved on
the college at the Reformation, while the 5s. 8d. was
apparently money payable by one of the subdean's feuars
or rentallers.^ On the west of the three rigs John M'Aslan,
nurseryman and seedsman, owned some six roods of land which
have for centuries been known by the name of Doghillok.
M'Aslan planted a row of trees and formed a lane which
at first bore his own name, but is now called Catherine
Lane. Both trees and lane are shown in Fleming's map
of the city prepared in 1807 and revised in 1826. On
the junction between the Forth and Clyde and Monkland
Canals being completed in 1790, the necessity of having a
more convenient access to the new waterway, especially from
the George Square district, became urgent, and this was
secured by the formation of John Street and its northeast-
ward prolongation, Stirlings Road. This latter street was
the outcome of negotiations between the town council
and William Stirling and Sons who had acquired the
undertaking of the Monkland Canal, and after whom the
street was named, though in title-deeds it is still sometimes
called the Monkland Canal Road. The additional traffic
soon produced a demand for building sites, and before the
year 1797, as shown on the map prefixed to Denholm's
History of Glasgow^ several new streets had been laid out
connecting Rottenrow with the new thoroughfare.
On the north side of Rottenrow were the manse of the
parson of Moffat," on a site now partly occupied by the Barony
Church, the manse of the parson of Carstairs^ and the
^Corporation purchase No. 367. Disposition by Robert Dobbie and
spouse to James Kerr and spouse, 4th August, 1671.
"^Glasg. Prot. Nos. 114, 3551. 3/^. 1961, 3249.
i8 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
manse of the parson of Eddleston, on a site partly occupied
by Weaver Street.^ The parson of *' Auld Roxburgh "
had also a manse on the north side of the street but its
FRONT VIEW OF "THE AULD PEDAGOGY," ROTTEN ROW.
precise position has not been identified. ^ On the south
side of Rottenrow, occupying a site nearly opposite the
^ lb. 1477, 3485. In the footnote to the latter protocol the initials
A. R. should be A. H. East of Eddleston Manse was a "waste tenement"
bearing the curious name of Bawasty or Bowasty. {lb. Nos. 3552, 3614).
Another " Bowastie," described as a barn and yard situated at the west end
and on the south side of Grammar School Wynd, was feued in 1585-6,
the feuduty consisting of two stones of salt butter and one stone of
cheese, at Christmas and Candlemas, yearly. {lb. Nos. 2829, 2835.)
In Jamieson's Scottish Dictmiary one of the definitions of " bow " is " a
fold for cows," and as the feuduty for the latter " Bowastie " consisted
of dairy produce it may be suggested that the name has some connection
with bovine affairs. The western continuation of Grammar School Wynd
was formerly called Back Cow Lane.
^ Dioc. Reg. ii. p. 442. No. 576.
ROTTENROW AND HIGH STREET 19
present Weaver Street, was the "Auld Pedagogy^" where
the university was accommodated during the first ten years
of its existente. Farther east and bordering on High
Street was a considerable area which at one time belonged
to the Monks of Paisley, having been acquired by them
in the end of the thirteenth, or the beginning of the
fourteenth century. Recorded in the Abbey Register, the
BACK VIEW OF "THE AULD PEDAGOGY,"' ROTTEN KOW.
title-deeds form an interesting specimen of conveyancing
at that early period. The earliest writs are dated 1283,
and one of them narrates that Gilbert de Camera, burgess
of Glasgow, to whom the bishop had given the property,
sold it in his urgent necessity, the sale being carried
through, with great formality, at three successive head
Courts of the burgh. Nicholas Sprewll was the purchaser,
and his son confirmed the property to the Abbey in 1321.
In the interval the property, described as lying in Ratonraw
and bounded by the street called the *' Wynde " on the
^Regality Club, 3rd series, pt. ii. pp. 65-8 ; Glasg. Prot. No. 1894.
20 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
east, had, by an undated charter, been conveyed by " William
de Bonkell, burgess of Glasgow," to the " abbot and convent
of the monastery of Paisley." The transfer was made
in presence of the community, and the common seal of
the burgh and the official seal of the court were appended
to the writ. Besides other formalities, the seller undertook
that in the event of his disputing the sale he should pay
as penalty ;^io sterling to the monks, and the like sum
towards the building of the High Church of Glasgow.
Portions of the area were disposed of from time to time
for payment of feuduties or ground rents, but up to the
period of the Reformation the abbey still retained a part,
on which stood a building called the Monks' House. In
the year 1584 the "Monks' House" property is described
in protocols as partly lying waste and partly occupied by
a stable and bakehouse. Subsequently dwelling-houses were
erected, and these remained till taken down by the
Improvement Trustees in recent years. The site is now
used for the hydraulic power supply works of the water
department.^ This, the steepest part of the ancient thorough-
fare, commonly called the Bell o' the Brae, is said to have
been lowered to the extent of four feet in 1783,^ and
more recently the Improvement Trustees, by diverting
the northern end of the street towards the east and by
removal of soil, have reduced the height by other ten or
twelve feet. Originally the upper part must have been
almost as steep as Balmanno Street. Under the powers
contained in their act of 1866 the corporation had already '
acquired the properties at the corners of Rottenrow and
Drygate, including the site of the mansion formerly possessed
1 Paisley Reg. pp. 382-7 ; Glasg. Prot. No. 2660, 2723.
^ Past an^ Present (iS^i), i. p. 30.
ROTTENROW AND HIGH STREET 21
by the Dukes of Montrose, and for the purposes of their
act of 1897, they purchased the remaining old houses and
OLD TENEMENT, FOOT OF HIGH STREET, WEST SIDE.
erected
down
roadway
new ones on both sides of High
as Duke Street and George Street
and farther improved the
Street as far
widened the
gradient. In the
22 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
demolition caused by these operations few prominent buildings
or valued landmarks were destroyed. One of the old
tenements as it existed in 1851 is described as an "ancient
landmark," presenting, " with its crow-steps and moulded
chimney-heads a striking contrast to the square and utilitarian
masses of masonry by which it is surrounded." One of
the inner court gables bore the date 1596, tradition reported
the building to have been a " hostelry " of some repute,
and '* the whole fabric beautifully displays the characteristics
of the style of buildings in Glasgow two and a half centuries
ago." ^ After that description was written the building was
lowered and a new roof added, thus causing, even before
its recent removal, the disappearance of some of its more
interesting features. The property is described in the
title-deeds as a " fore tenement, with close, well, and
yard, of old belonging to William Miller, and thereafter
to the heirs of William Morton, pipe-maker." ^ It was
numbered 255 to 261 High Street, and joined at the back
with the Union Court property which extended northward
to Rottenrow, and was likewise acquired by the Corporation.
Union Court was supposed to occupy part of the site on
which stood the Auld Pedagogy, above referred to. In
1572 the "Pedagogy" is found in the possession of John
Layng, parson of Luss, and in the title-deeds, so late as
1722, it is described as a tenement, garden, and orchard,
" formerly called the Auld Pedagogy, afterwards the manse
of the parson of Luss." About that date new tenements
were erected on the site, and it is not unlikely that the
dilapidated buildings recently taken down were part of
those tenements.
'^ Past and Present (1851), i. p. 30.
2 Purchase, No. 46.
ROTTENROW AND HIGH STREET 23
The material changes consequent on the Reformation were
more acutely felt in the Townhead district than in other parts
of the city. Inhabited largely by beneficed clergy, the dwell-
ings were of a superior class, and some of them suitable for
the reception of Royalty. But through the dispersion of the
priestly order, when attendance at the Cathedral was no longer
tolerated, many houses were left tenantless, and the spending
of incomes derived by parsons from their rural prebends no
longer benefited local merchants and craftsmen. Nor was
there much prospect of the loss being compensated from other
sources, because the locality was not suitable for the exercise
of the ordinary callings. It is a prevalent but mistaken
belief that the market cross at one time stood at the head
of High Street. No market was held in that locality till
after the Reformation, when an experiment in that direction
was unsuccessful. This movement originated in a supplication
to Parliament by " the fremen and utheris indwellers of the
citie above the Gray Freir Wynde," who represented that
before the Reformation that district of the city was upheld
by " the resort of the bishop, parsons, vicars, and other
clergie," which district was " the onlie ornament and decora-
tioun thairof, be ressone of the grite and sumptuous buildings
of grite antiquitie, verie proper and meit for the ressait of
his Hienes and nobilitie." The dwellings, however, were
becoming ruinous and the possessors impoverished, and the
supplicants " lamentit to see sic gorgeous policie decay," and
suggested that with the view of restoring prosperity, one or
other of the town's markets should be removed from the
vicinity of the Market Cross to the upper part of the city.^
A trial was made with the market for salt, but the Wynd-
head was found to be too distant " fra the brig and water "
1 Glasg. Chan. (1587), i. pt. ii. pp. 213-5.
24
GLASGOW MEMORIALS
to suit the merchants and fishers who used that commodity.^
Whatever success may have attended the establishment of
other markets, all efforts were ineffectual to restore to their
wonted splendour the " grit and sumptuous buildings " of
the sixteenth century, and in course of time they were
replaced by structures designed for utility rather than orna-
ment.
BACK LAND OF HOUSES NO. I57 HIGH STREET,
At the George Street corner of High Street the removed
buildings could not date farther back than 1790 or 1794,
when George Street and Duke Street were formed. Previous
to 1790 there was no public opening on the west side of
the High Street between Rottenrow and Greyfriars' Wynd
or Buns Wynd, a narrow lane giving access to the Deanside
Well and buildings which had been erected on the site
formerly occupied by the Grey Friars as well as on Craigmak
^Glasgow Chart. (1594), pp. 243-4.
o
a
H
O
C/5
X tt
$ ^
O
Li
E S
£ ^
o
t*.
ROTTENROW AND HIGH STREET 25
or Craignaught, the place where in former times a Court
was held on the eve of Glasgow Fair, and the peace of the
Fair was proclaimed by the bailies of the burgh and regality.
In the angle between the houses in High Street and those
on the south side of Rottenrow were yards and other
vacant spaces. To the west of these was Deanside, whence
in the olden time the Friars Preachers brought water
to their cloisters. Still farther west were Ramshorn and
Meadowflat lands, on which a few years before 1790 the
town council had commenced the feuing of the new suburb
embracing George Square and adjoining streets. That part
of Deanside which lay next the High Street belonged to
John Balmanno, and the street through it which bears
his name was opened in 1792. About this time Glasgow
was prospering. The population, which in 1780 was only
42,832, was nearly doubled before the century closed. The
Forth and Clyde and the Monkland Canals having been
united were opened for through traffic in 1790 and from
these undertakings great results were anticipated, and for a
time realised. The vicinity of the canals, affiDrding the
opportunity of obtaining sufficient supplies of coal and the
privilege of water carriage to both the east and west
seas, was favourable to the establishment of manufactures
and the development of commerce. One immediate result
of the opening was the formation of new streets suitable
for the traffic to and from the canal basins. By arrangement
with the directors of the Forth and Clyde Canal, a street
was opened between Buchanan Street and Port-Dundas ;
while, as already mentioned, John Street and Stirlings Road
were formed to secure a convenient and direct route to Castle
Street from George Square, thus getting round the worst
part of Rottenrow ridge, and avoiding the steep ascent of
26
GLASGOW MEMORIALS
the High Street. But there was still another access needed
to meet the requirements of the Ramshorn district. One of
the main highways to Glasgow from the east had lain along
the line of what is supposed to have been originally a Roman
road. Approaching by way of Carntyne the passage led up
the Drygate, along Rottenrow, and thence to Partick and
the west. In 1790, to quote a town council minute, "a
THE duke's lodgings (BACK VIEW, NO. l).
number of respectable citizens submitted a petition stating
that it had for several years been under consideration of the
different magistrates of Glasgow to open a street and to make
a communication from the Carntyne Road to the High Street,
and from thence to the new buildings in Ramshorn ground." ^
Shortly afterwards an act of parliament authorising the scheme
was obtained,^ properties were acquired, and the street was
opened in 1794. It consisted of a prolongation of Carntyne
Road almost due west from the foot of Drygate. In
^MS. Council Reg. xxxii. p. 280. ^31 George III. c. 107.
ROTTENROW AND HIGH STREET 27
its course it cut through several gardens attached to the old
prebendal manses, one of which gardens, according to a
crown charter, the Scottish Sovereigns had a right to use
when they resided in Glasgow.^ One of these manses had,
subsequent to the Reformation, been possessed by the Earls
of Eglinton, from whom it passed to the town council,
and they long used it as the Drygate correction-house.^
THE duke's lodgings (bACK VIEW, NO. 2).
Another manse had been absorbed in the great lodging which
for a series of years belonged to the Dukes of Montrose.^ It
1 Glasg. Prot. No. 2670. '^ lb. No. 962.
^ lb. Nos. 1499, 1941, 2324. William, Duke of Montrose, sold this
lodging and adjoining properties to Gavin Pettigrew, wright in Glasgow,
by Disposition dated 4 January, 1752 {MS. Sasitie Reg. p. 83). The upper
part of Pettigrew Street, formed through these properties, has been absorbed
by Duke Street Prison, and the lower part by the station works of the North
British Railway Company.
28 , GLASGOW MEMORIALS
was in consequence of the new street passing through the
latter grounds that it was called Duke Street, a name which
was at first applied to it as far west as Montrose Street.
In 1792 the town council resolved that "the new street
from the place where it strikes off from Carntyne Road till
it enters George Square " should in future be called Glasgow
Street ; ^ but two years afterwards this resolution was rescinded,
THE duke's lodgings, DRYGATE (FRONT VIEW).
and that part of the street east of High Street was appointed
to be called Duke Street, and the western part, as far as the
Square, to be called George Street,^ an arrangement which
still subsists.
It was in the vicinity of the " Monks' House " already
referred to, and within a few years either before or after
the date when the abbot of Paisley acquired the property,
that Wallace is said to have had his famous encounter with
an English detachment then garrisoned in Glasgow. A
^ MS. Council Reg. xxxiii. p. 86. '^ lb. xxxv. p. 297.
ROTTENROW AND HIGH STREET 29
property situated a short distance from the north end of
Glasgow Bridge, over which Wallace crossed, undoubtedly
then belonged to the monks ; ^ and as they are understood
to have been on intimate and friendly terms with Wallace,^
it is just possible that, by giving information or otherwise,
they aided in the plot. As a reward for their patriotism
during the wars of Wallace and Bruce, the English burnt
their monastery in 1307. With regard to Wallace's raid on
Glasgow, opinions differ as to whether the narrative appearing
in the pages of Henry the Minstrel is substantially accurate
or whether the story is wholly imaginary. Circumstantiality
of detail and precision in stating the strategic arrangements,
all fitting the locality, give an air of reality to the description.
From the configuration of the ground and the position of
the streets, it is conceivable that, as stated by the minstrel,
the attacking party may have kept the garrison in the dark
regarding the movements of the second column till it emerged
from Drygate and attacked the rear. Such an attack, even
with greatly disproportionate numbers, had a good chance of
success ; and before the English, who fled " out of the gait,"
had time to rally and return with superior force, Wallace and
his retinue, according to the narrative, were away in the
opposite direction,
" By the Frer Kyrk till a wode fast besyd."
After getting through the grounds of Blackfriars Monastery
and into the cover of the wood beyond, the little band of
warriors withdrew in the direction of Bothwell, and thence
returned to Ayr. Doubt has been expressed regarding
the occurrence of the raid, chiefly because it is not known
to have been alluded to in any contemporary chronicle or
record. But the extant writings of that period are so meagre
^ Paisley Reg. p. 4.00. 2 gee Dr. Lees' Jbbey of Paisley, chap. x.
30 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
and fragmentary as to neutralise much of the force of that
objection. On the whole the incident is so characteristic of
the great patriot's method of warfare, and the relation of it
by the minstrel has so much the appearance of being founded
on documentary evidence or genuine tradition, that Glasgow
annals would be incomplete without an account of Wallace's
march from Ayr and the victory achieved by him at the
Bell o' the Brae.
III.
GALLOWGATE AND LONDON STREET
GLASGOW LOTTERIES
IT may be safe to assume that the jurisdiction implied
in the expression " pit and gallows," occurring in
charters granted to the Bishops in 1450,^ and to the
Magistrates in 1636,^ was exercised in Glasgow from a
period at least as early as the constitution of the burgh.
" Gallowgate " is noticed as a name in current use about
the year 1325.^ Passing through a considerable stretch
of ground which it divided into Over and Nether Gallowmuir,
the " gait," at the extremity of burgh territory, approached
a piece of land described in a charter of 1582 as '* the
Gallow Aiker, lying between the common muir of the city
on the north, the burn called Camlauchee Burne on the
south, and the lands of Burrofeild on the west."'^ Gallow
Hill and Gallow Knowe are place-names frequently met
with in ancient burghs and baronies. " The Gallow Hill,"
says Cosmo Innes, " is still an object of interest and, I fear,
of some pride, near our old baronial mansions ; and I know
some where the surrounding ground is full of the remains
^ Glasg. Chart, i. part ii. pp. 28-31. ^ lb. p. 393.
^Lib. Col. p. 156. ^Glasg. Prot. No. 241 1.
32
GLASGOW MEMORIALS
of the poor wretches who died by the baron's law." ^ By
the charter just referred to, Andrew Coitis, designated
" marshal of the barony and regality of Glasgow," feued
the piece of land called the '* Gallow Aiker " to John
Auldcorne, baker, and this was done with consent of the
provost, bailies and councillors of the city, thus indicating
that the burgh and barony were jointly interested in the
BARKOWFIELD HOUSE.
transaction. It is stated that in the eighteenth century
the place of execution, where the gallows stood and near
which the hangman resided, was at the north-west end of
the muir, near the upper corner of what is now Barrack
Street, and that an adjoining declivity, opposite the mouth
of Ladywell Street, was known as " the Hangman's Brae." ^
Possibly the place of execution was changed about 1582,
bringing the old Gallow Aiker, whatever had been its
^ Legal Jntiquitles, p. 59. -Past and Present, iii, p. 695.
GALLOWGATE AND LONDON STREET 33
previous history, into the market. Twenty-three years
afterwards the town council were in want of an official to
" execute the hie justice on malefactouris," when fortunately
a banished thief, returning to town, and thereby rendering
himself liable " to be hangit without ane assys," was secured
for the service. Former transgressions were forgiven him,
and the new official bound himself to perform the work
carefully and diligently, and " consentis that he be hangit
to the deid " if he deserted his post.^
A bridge carrying Gallowgate traffic over Molendinar
Burn, at this part sometimes called Gallowgate Burn, existed
at least as early as 1549.^ Beyond the burn, Eaglesham
Croft, including the ground named Merkdailly, lay on the
south side of the gait. It was usually designated Eglissemis
Croft,^ and in 1496 when Martin Wan, chancellor of the
Metropolitan Church, gave one of its acres to the altarage
of St. James founded by him, it is called " Eglissamezcroft." *
On the north side, at the place now known as Spoutmouth,
was a run of water which in 1 542 is described as " the well
of St. Kentigern," in 1558 "the well commonly called
Sanct Mongowis Spoutis," in 1572 "the well of St.
Kentigern," and in 1598 '' nvulos lie spowtis.'' An adjoining
piece of ground called Powdrait or Poldrait was possessed
in barns and rigs by various persons.^
^ G/asg. Rec. i. p. 233. "^ Glasg. Prot. No. 17.
^ lb. No. 2133. It has been conjectured that the croft was at one
time held as an endowment of the Cathedral prebend of Eaglesham, but
this is not supported by authority. Merkdailly has come from Merk-
daillis, pieces of land paying a merk of annual rent or feuduty {Regality
Club, iv. 100-3).
* Reg. Episc. No. 473.
'"Lib. Col. p. 27; Glasg. Prot. Nos. 431, 1854, 3454. The prefix "Pol"
means pool, but the derivation of " drait " is uncertain. There was a
34 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
During the great Civil War an attempt to fortify the
city included the casting of a trench, and in June, 1646,
the town council ordered that, " with all expeditioun, ther
be ane port buildit beyond the Gallowgait burne answerable
to the trinche in that place." Previous to this the port
had been on the west side of the burn ; but even the new
port, hurriedly erected to meet an emergency, seems to
have been superseded by another erected in 1649, ^^^ ^^
was probably the latter erection whose building material
was used in the construction of the Saracen Head Inn in
1 754-'
Beyond the ports, Gallowmuir, on each side of the
intersecting road, consisted of fields under cultivation till
a comparatively recent period, but though once belonging
to the community these fields had passed into individual
ownership at an early date. In 1529 the town council
gave two acres to each of eight chaplains in the Collegiate
Church of St. Mary, which was founded about that time,^
and before the end of the century most of the muir had
passed out of the category of common lands. A rental
made up about 1657-9 gives a list of owners then paying
annual rents or feuduties to the town treasurer. Applicable
to the division of the muir nearest the city, twenty-nine
croft called "Poldrat" at Lauder in 1501 {Reg. Mag. Sig, ii. No. 2595),
and six acres of the lands of Poldrait at the east end of the burgh of
Linlithgow, in 1527 (il>. iii. No. 449). In the light of later protocols
Poldrait Burn as shown on the Plan appended to vol. i. requires
modification. M'Ure describes an adjoining street as " the Spout-wynd,
which reaches north from the Gallowgate, and is 1 20 ells long and 6 ells wide,
in which are the four cisterns of very fine sweet water" (M'Ure, p. 131).
^ G/asg. Rec. ii. pp. 88, 95, 166 ; Glasg. Prot. No. 2701.
^ Glasg. Char, i, part ii. p. 109.
GALLOWGATE AND LONDON STREET 35
sums, varying from is. to £10 Scots, were paid for lands,
tenements, barns and kilns. In old Gallowmuir, the middle
division, nineteen acres of land were divided into thirteen
holdings, paying a merk or 13s. 4d. per acre. Farther
east " the land in New Gallowmuir whereof ilk aiker
payes yeirlie to the toune, for ane dayes work, vjs. viijd.,
and ilk aiker therof be wast the syke payes yeirly viijs.,
CAMLACHIE MANSION.
and ilk aiker be eist the same payes 4s.," was laid out in
forty-four holdings of from half an acre to fourteen acres,
and extending in all to 113^ acres. ^ The largest holder
was " Mr. William Wilkie for the lands of Camlachie,
estimat to fourtine aikers." In 1584 the greater part of
Wilkie's land belonged to William Anderson, maltman,
and was described in two portions, separated from each
other by the continuation of Gallowgate called the " common
^ G/asg. Rec. iii. pp. S40-1, 547-9.
36 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
lone leading to Camlachie." The upper portion consisted
of five acres, with houses, yards and buildings, *' lying in
the Gallowmure next Camlachie brig, between the lands of
Eister Craigis on the north and the bridge of Camlachie,
with the burn therof, on the east." On the south side of
the lone were 2^ ^cres lying between the burn on the east
and the lands of John Auldcorne, being the Gallow Aiker
above referred to, on the south. ^ Camlachie as a place-name
seems to have originated with the burn. The prefix *' Cam "
means a bend, and at the part where the burn passes
through Camlachie lands, separating the portion within the
burgh from the eastern part within the regality, it takes
a sharp curve from west to south, and after a short
and crooked run almost as abruptly resumes its westerly
course. The derivation of the remainder of the name is
uncertain.
A portion of Gallowmuir was reserved for the practice
of archery, notice of which occurs in 1625, when the town
council instructed the master of work " to repair the buttis
in the Gallowmuir for exerceis of schutting quha pleissis."
The butts are understood to have occupied part of the site
acquired by the government in 1795 ^'"^^ ^^^'^ ^^^ upwards
of eighty years thereafter as Infantry Barracks. Here also
occurred, in the year 1544, the conflict known in local
history as the " Battle of the Butts," in which Regent
Arran defeated the Earl of Glencairn, though the earl was
backed by the official strength of Glasgow regality.
Proceeding like Gallowgate in an easterly direction from
the Market Cross, London Street, when it came into
existence about eighty years ago, relieved the older thorough-
fare of so much traffic and, by a less circuitous route,
^ G/asg. Prot. Nos. 2657-8, 2803-4, 2870.
GALLOWGATE AND LONDON STREET 37
opened up communication with districts which were waiting
for an opportunity of development.
Congested areas in Glasgow were first encountered in
the vicinity of the Cross. Proximity to this centre was
advantageous alike to the craftsman and retailer of wares, and
here at first were planted dwellings and booths which greatly
increased in number in later times. Till about the middle of
the seventeenth century the city did not contain more than
INFANTRY BARRACKS, GALLOWGATE.
20,000 inhabitants, but the bulk of these were housed
within narrow limits. The people were not migratory,
and, instead of forming new streets in the spacious fields,
preferred to build within lanes running off existing thorough-
fares. These clustered dwellings became an easy prey to
the flames when fire broke out, but such clearances were
not permanent, as new buildings rapidly took the place of
the old. It was not till the last quarter of the eighteenth
century that Glasgow, doubling its population, showed
unmistakable signs of expanding its building area, and this
movement was accelerated by a similar duplication within
38 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
the next twenty-five years. In 1780 the population was
42,832, and in 1821 it had risen to 147,043. New suburbs,
beginning about the former period with the George Square
district, were spreading in various directions. Among the
later extensions Great Hamilton Street and the more fashion-
able Monteith Row, a favourite resort of the wealthier
merchants, had been formed on Calton Green. But notwith-
standing these outlets, the population in the streets and
closes bordering on the Cross did not lose in density, and
the necessity for remedial measures became apparent. The
art of managing improvement schemes had not then been
acquired, and through inexperience the town council devised
a plan which proved too extensive to be practicable. In
1820 an act of parliament was procured, the preamble of
which sets forth that it would tend much to the improve-
ment and ornament of the city, to the prevention of disease,
and to the health and accommodation of the inhabitants, if
certain new streets, lanes, and passages were opened and
formed therein, and buildings removed in certain parts where
the population was most crowded. Power was therefore
given to the magistrates and council, by themselves and
their deputies and agents, to open and form various new
streets. The first of these, 2S ^^^^ ^^ breadth, was to run
from Stockwell Street, nearly opposite Jackson Street, in an
easterly direction through King Street and Saltmarket to the
Molendinar Burn. The second street was to be 70 feet
wide, and was to run from Great Hamilton Street or
Monteith Row westward, on a line somewhere between the
north side of St. Andrew Square and the south side of
Gallowgate, and to terminate at or near the Cross. A third
contemplated street, 60 feet in breadth, was to run west-
ward from Barrack Yard, on a line situated to the north
GALLOWGATE AND LONDON STREET 39
of Gallowgate, and was to terminate at or near the
Cross. Power was also given to purchase grounds and
buildings to an extent not exceeding 60 feet on each side
of the new streets, and to sell such grounds as building
sites.
The powers conferred by the Act of 1820 were exercised
only in relation to the second street, and that through the
medium of third parties. No provision had been made for
raising money to execute the works, and the funds belong-
ing to the community were inadequate for the purpose. In
these circumstances a number of influential gentlemen,
anticipating that a new thoroughfare from the Cross to
Monteith Row would not only be of great ornament and
utility to the city, but would increase the value of property
through which it passed and in its neighbourhood, formed
themselves into a joint-stock company and offered to carry
the act into execution so far as that street was concerned.
It was considered that by the terms of the act the town council
could delegate their powers, and they accordingly authorised
the company to proceed, subject to their supervision, and
further agreed to invest ;^iooo in shares in expectation of
benefit to the public and enhancement of the town's property.
The new company was thereupon formed into a " corporation
or body politic," under the system then in vogue of obtain-
ing a " seal of cause " from the town council, and application
was made to parliament for supplementary powers. An act,
passed in 1824, after narrating the new arrangements, appointed
Kirkman Finlay, Henry Monteith, and other shareholders, to
be commissioners for forming and opening London Street,
erecting buildings, and executing other works, with all the
powers contained in the previous act. The authorised capital
of the commissioners consisted of 1200 shares of £,1^ each
40 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
(the limit of liability), and the commissioners had borrowing
powers to the extent of ^^20,000.
Arrangements having reached this stage, the acquisition of
properties was commenced. Among the earlier purchases
were portions of the " Tradesland," a building of some
historic interest though not of great antiquity. Buildings,
with their timber fronts and thatched roofs, were seldom
allowed to get old in that quarter. In June, 1652, a fire,
which began in a tenement on the east side of High Street,
above the Cross, spread to the Saltmarket, and totally
consumed the houses on both sides of the street, it being
reported at the time " that thair will be neir four scoir
closses all burnt, estimat to about ane thowsand families."^
Twenty-five years afterwards a similar calamity occurred,
when the buildings on both sides of Saltmarket adjoining
the Cross, and for some distance along the south sides of
Trongate and Gallowgate, were destroyed. For some years
after the second fire the corner steadings at the head of
Saltmarket lay waste. The minutes of 30th September, 1682,
bear that the town council " had ingadged the dean of gild
and merchand rank to build a large stane lodging for the
use of the poor, upon the corner of the streetis of Trongait
and Saltmercat, for the better decoreing of the toun, that
ruinous ground ther being by all appearance lyklie to ly
unbuilded by any who had interest therin or otheris ; and
that they find the samen cannot be done by any stock belong-
ing to the said hospitall without ane considerable supply and
help." It was therefore agreed that the town's funds should
bear the cost of the stonework, on the understanding that if
the Crafts (or Trades) should, in the interests of their
hospital, build a tenement on the opposite side of Salt-
^ Glasg. Rec. ii. p. 230.
W
H
c
s
in
W
O
-it
r"
o
CJ
GALLOWGATE AND LONDON STREET 41
market, the town council should give to them a sum
equivalent to that expended for the merchants, with a
contingent addition of 2000 merks.^ Thirteen years elapsed
before the Trades' House took advantage of the offer, but
at last they agreed to erect a building on the waste site, " in
sufficient stonework to the decorement of the toun." The
town's contribution towards the building was 12,000 merks
{£666 13s. 4d. sterling). This included the conditional sum
of 2000 merks which was paid, because the " building designed
be the trades will be far greater than that of the merchantis."^
M'Ure, in 1736, alludes to the one building as "the coffee-
house, and lodgings above the same, belonging to the
merchants hospital," and to the other as " the great and
stately tenement of land belonging to the trades of Glasgow,
of curious ashlar work, standing upon eighteen arches and
stately pillars, upon the south-east corner of the Gallow-
gate and Saltmarket Street." ^
The erection of new buildings in London Street was soon
commenced, and thereafter went on simultaneously with the
purchasing of old properties. On 30th April, 1824, the
foundation-stone of the first building, fronting London
Street and Saltmarket, was laid with Masonic honours by
Lord Provost William Smith. Great enthusiasm apparently
prevailed on the occasion. After service in the Cathedral,
where Principal M^Farlane discoursed from the text, " Except
the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build
it," a long procession — described at the time as " one of
the most noble and splendid displays ever exhibited in this
city " — marched to the site where the ceremony was performed.
An inscription plate put into the cavity bore that it was
^ Glasg. Rec. iii. p. 321. "^ MS. Council Rec, xiv. pp. 358-9.
3 M'Ure, pp. 125-6.
42 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
'*to commemorate the formation of London Street, opening
from the centre of the city a convenient and spacious com-
munication with the great road leading to the Metropolis
of the United Kingdom, adorning the city with elegant build-
ings, affording a splendid access to the Green, that beautiful
park which has so long been the pleasure and the pride of the
community."^ These sanguine expectations as to the utility
of London Street were in the main realised, but the financial
resources fell far short of the requirements. In 1826 Parlia-
ment increased the Commissioners' borrowing powers by
;^30,ooo, and at the same time power was taken to throw
an arch or bridge of cast-iron or stone across St. Andrew's
Lane, and to enclose or arch over portions of the Molendinar
Burn. St. Andrew's Lane, leading from Gallowgate to
St. Andrew's Square, had an abrupt slope towards the burn,
hence the need for a bridge at the crossing. The lane,
now a cul-de-sac, was of some importance in its day, as
the Sheriff-Clerk's office and the offices of several lawyers
and merchants were to be found there.^ The act of 1826
further contemplated the removal of houses on the south side
of Trongate and west side of Saltmarket in order to improve
and widen the access to London Street. This improvement
was beyond the limited means at the command of the
Commissioners, but it has latterly been accomplished in
connection with the formation of the underground railway.
One other provision of the act may be noticed. About
two years previously statutory authority had been obtained
for making a road from the city to the village of Parkhead,
and for its continuation to Woodend. These roads formed
the direct and main communication from London Street to
the Edinburgh and London and other roads, and their com-
^ Glasgow Courier, ist May, 1824.. ^ Past and Present, iii. p. 669.
GALLOWGATE AND LONDON STREET 43
pletion, retarded for want of money, being necessary to
render the new street fully accessible and commodious, the
Commissioners were authorised to lend the Road Trustees
;^5000 to expedite the work.
When all the purchases had been effected and the street
opened — an undertaking which had been courageously faced
on a capital of ;^ 80,000 — it was found that the net expendi-
ture was close on ;^ 150,000. The assets mainly consisted
of building ground on which the Commissioners had no
funds to erect houses, and there was little or no demand
for building sites on remunerative terms. Though the
Commissioners had not aimed at profit neither had they
anticipated substantial loss, but the evidences of miscalcula-
tion were now apparent. An equal division of the ground
among the holders of 1200 shares was impracticable, and
it was suggested that distribution might be effected by means
of a lottery, preliminary to which new shareholders should
contribute sufficient money to clear off" the debt. To this
course, however, there was a serious obstacle. In this country
the raising of money by lotteries for state and other public
purposes had often been practised, but public opinion had
risen against the system, and all lotteries were abolished by
act of parliament in 1826. This salutary legislation was in
fresh recollection when, in 1831, the London Street Com-
missioners, pondering how they might be extricated from
financial difficulties, could hit on no better device than the
discredited lottery. An appeal to parliament for express
sanction to a lottery pure and simple would have been
hopeless, and therefore a scheme was brought forward in a
milder form. Under the title of an Act to amend Acts for
opening a street from the Cross to Monteith Row, it was
set forth that the Commissioners had formed the street and
44 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
opened it for the public, and in doing so had incurred
certain debts, that the property of the Commissioners
could not be utilised by them in their corporate capacity,
and it being in part unproductive, the interest on debts and
yearly charges of the undertaking were consuming and would
soon exhaust the property unless it were disposed of to
those who could possess and use it ; that certain shareholders
had required that the property should be divided among
themselves, but as an exact division could not be made
" it is expedient that the said property and whole funds
or assets should be divided among them by lot, in such
portions as may be arranged by themselves, for doing which
it is necessary that a sum of money sufficient to discharge
the debts and engagements of the said undertaking should
be raised." Parliament therefore authorised the capital stock
to be increased to such an extent as would furnish sufficient
money to meet all claims, and empowered the Commissioners
thereafter to " divide and allot " the whole or any part of
the property into portions, " of such extent, amount, or value,
either in property or money," as they thought fit, and " to
cause or procure the property or funds so allotted and
divided to be distributed among the shareholders by lot."
Having obtained their act, the Commissioners at first pro-
posed to issue 15,500 tickets at ^^lo los. each, to realise
;^ 1 62,750. Out of this sum were to be paid 178 substantial
prizes, and 15,322 of los. each. There being no blanks,
one special feature of the ordinary lottery was absent.
But while this proposal was under consideration it was
suggested that an act which sanctioned so much of a lottery
was sufficient for the establishment of one as extensive as
those which had been abolished. Financial contractors in
London were thereupon consulted, and arrangements were
GALLOWGATE AND LONDON STREET 45
made with them for carrying out a scheme which attained
some degree of notoriety under the name of " The Glasgow
Lotteries." The original 1200 £i^ shares were split into
3600 of ;^8 6s. 8d. each, and 26,400 additional shares
were created. The whole 30,000 shares were then arranged
in classes of 10,000 each, and each class successively formed
the subject of a lottery. The contractors acquired these
shares and other assets of the Commissioners at the price
of ;/^ 1 57,500, the original shareholders collectively getting
only ^^20,700 for their primary contribution of ^^30,000.
The price paid by the contractors for each share was ;^5 5s.,
and the rate charged to "the trade" (retailers to the public)
averaged a little over £12. The selling price to the public
of the tickets in the first lottery rose from £,12 12s. to
^14 19s. Assuming that all the tickets were sold at the
lowest trade price, the contractors would have received
;^364,500, but it is known that some of the tickets remained
in their hands. The aggregate prizes of the three lotteries
amounted to ;^ 165,079.
The first lottery was drawn on 17th April, 1833. Its
announcement, " Glasgow Lottery, by authority of Parlia-
ment," startled the public, and especially members of the
Legislature, who, even with memories refreshed by a refer-
ence to the " Index of House Proceedings," could not
recollect any Act which conferred such authority. The
Government officials first became aware of the scheme when
they got a request for the loan of the "wheels" used in
the old State lotteries. On its being ascertained that the
supposed authority was an Act of Parliament relating to a
Glasgow street, the House of Commons was in commotion,
various discussions took place, and eventually, on i8th March,
1834, a Select Committee was appointed "to inquire into
46 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
the origin and present state of a lottery, purporting to be
carried on under authority of Parliament, and intituled 'The
Glasgow Lottery,' and into any other lotteries," etc. Mean-
while the second lottery had been drawn. An advertisement in
the Glasgow Herald of 20th January, begins thus — " Glasgow
Lottery. By authority of Parliament. On Wednesday, 2 2d
January, all the capital prizes of ;{^i 5,000, ^/^ 10,000, and ;C5000,
and every other prize in the Glasgow Lottery, will be drawn.
The fortunate number may be at this moment on sale at J. Oatts',
102 Queen Street, opposite the Royal Exchange, Glasgow.
Those persons who intend to adventure should not delay," etc.
The Select Committee at once proceeded with the inquiry,
and, after examining a number of witnesses, issued a full
report on 5th August, 1834. The London solicitors for
the bill disclaimed knowledge of any intention to institute
a lottery, and considered that the powers of the act had
been exceeded. The Glasgow solicitor who drew the bill
avowed that its purpose was the sanctioning of a lottery,
the purchasers of tickets being the new shareholders, and
he expressed no opinion on the question of the statutory
powers having been strained. The contractors, not cognisant
of the original intentions of the promoters, maintained that
in managing the lotteries they kept within the strict letter
of the law. With these conflicting views before them, the
Select Committee came to the conclusion that " concealment
was intended, and practised throughout, and that such con-
cealment was highly blameable " ; but, seeing that many
innocent persons were implicated, and might suffer if past
proceedings were interfered with, no further action was
recommended in the meantime. Previous to the date of
the report the last of the lotteries was all but closed, and
an act of parliament had been passed on 25th July pro-
GALLOWGATE AND LONDON STREET 47
hibiting such In future. The one then proceednig was allowed
to go on, but the holding of any further lottery was declared
illegal, and strictly forbidden. An advertisement in Glasgow
Herald of iith July announces: "End of Lotteries. — On
the 22nd of this month the very last and only lottery that
is, or will be sanctioned by parliament must be drawn, when
all the capital, and every other prize, will be decided, after
which all lotteries will cease in this kingdom." The chief
prize was valued at ^(^ 16,000, the second at ;^ 10,000, and so on
to lower figures. The current price of a ticket was ^^13 13s.
At the last moment it was found necessary to postpone the
drawing of the third lottery to 28th August, 1834, but since
then Glasgow lotteries, though not ceasing altogether, have
generally kept in the mild form risked at church bazaars,
and have never approached the magnitude of those designed
to liquidate the debt of the London Street Commissioners.
IV.
WALKERGATE OR SALTMARKET STREET
AND BRIDGEGATE.
WHAT might have been an instructive chapter in the
history of Glasgow industries must remain unwritten
on account of the material for compiling it being confined
to the survival of a few street and place names. In 1422
a tenement is described as lying " in vico Fullonum," the
street of the fullers, or walkers, as they were termed in this
country. The street is called the Walcargat in 1447 and
again in 1454.^ Contemporary records do not refer to
the existence of walkers as members of a craft in Glasgow
at any period. In Edinburgh and other towns walkers are
noticed sometimes as a separate craft, and sometimes they
are shown to be conjoined with other incorporations, such
as the weavers or the bonnetmakers. It is not unlikely
that in Glasgow the cloth-fullers were associated with the
incorporation of bonnetmakers and dyers, as the walkmill at
Partick was usually let to the "litsters" or dyers.^ But
seeing that one of the chief streets of the city got its early
name from that class of workers, it may be inferred that at
first they formed an independent and influential body, and
^ Lib. Col. pp. 168, 177, 242.
^-Glasg, Rec. ii. pp. 435-6, 439, 442; iii. pp. 64, 158.
SALTMARKET AND BRIDGEGATE 49
it is besides probable that in the fifteenth century and earlier
there existed a walk or fulling mill near the confluence of
Molendinar and Camlachie Burns. On the latter burn, at
a short distance to the east, were lands called Milldamhead,
but no extant record bears reference to a mill as being in
actual operation. The earliest reference, in a contemporary
writing, to such a mill is in the year 1507-8, when
Archbishop Blacader caused a fulling mill to be constructed
and repaired on his lands and water of Kelvin,^ the ferm of
which mill, being six merks yearly, was to be paid to him
and his successors. This mill, in other writings about the
same period, is called the " new walkmill," and it is not
unlikely that an old mill, situated on the lands of Linnings-
haugh, at the foot of Walkergait, was then deserted, and its
site, with adjoining land, laid out for cultivation and set
to rentallers, Linningshaugh was occupied in that manner
from at least the year 1527^ till acquired by the community
for the formation of the New Green in 1662-4. Ground
at the mill-dam belonged to the community, and previous
to its being sold about the year 1590, was used as the place
of assembly for the annual rouping of the common good.^
An adjoining piece of ground was called Kiln-croft,* indicating
the existence of a grain-mill and the usual accessories in
that locality. Perhaps, therefore, the dam at one time
served the double purpose of supplying the walk-mill and
a grain-mill, which may have been possessed by the com-
munity previous to their acquiring the one situated on the
side of Garngadhill, which is first heard of in 1446-7.^
'^Reg. Episc. Glas. No. 486; Prot. No. 3266.
'^Dioces. Reg. i. p. 87. ^ Glasg. Rec. i. p. 152.
^ lb. iii. p. 131. ^ Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. p. 25.
50 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
After the street lost its connection with the early crafts-
men by whom it had been most frequented, it gradually
acquired its new designation on account of the market for
salt being held there. In a series of protocols, nearly all
in the vernacular, and covering the dates 1530-7, neither
name occurs. When the street is referred to it is called the
" gait fra the Cors to the Nedder Barres-yet," or to the
*Sowtht Barrezet," the " Sowtht yet," or the " Sowtht Port.''^
In 1582 a booth is described as lying on the east side of
the street leading from the market cross to the South
Nether Port next the " Salt mercat " ; and nine years after-
wards the street is referred to as " commonly called the
Saltmarket."^ Though this special form of designation has
not been noticed in previous protocols, it must be borne
in mind that these formal documents purposely avoid
variation in description so as to preserve identity, and there
need be little doubt that for a long time previous to 1591
the present name of the street had been in common use.
A building on the east side of Saltmarket Street, facing
Bridgegate Street, was called Silvercraigs land on account of
its having belonged to the Campbells, proprietors of Silver-
craigs in Argyleshire. In 1703 it belonged to Robert
Campbell of Silvercraigs, who conveyed it to his son-in-law
and daughter, Walter Scott and Mary Campbell, spouses,
the great-grandparents of Sir Walter Scott.^ In his Auto-
^ G/as. Prot. Nos. 1059-1312. '^Glas. Prot. Nos. 2458, 3309.
^ MS. Sasine Reg. 21st Oct. 1709, pp. 30, 31. In some genealogical
lists Miss Campbell is named "Jean," but "Mary" is the name in the
titles. In 1703-9 the property is described as a great tenement of
land, with enclosure and yard, lying on the east side of the street called
Saltmercat, near the South Port, called the Barresyet, and west side of the
Burn of Molendinar.
SALTMAKKET AND BRIDGEGATE 51
biography Sir Walter alludes to the matrimonial alliance of
his ancestral namesake with " Miss Campbell of Silvercraigs,
in the west, through which connection my father used to
call cousin as they say with the Campbells of Blythswood."
Silvercraigs-land is said to have been occupied by Cromwell
during one of his visits to Glasgow ; at a subsequent period
SILVERCRAIGS LAND, FOOT OF SALTMARKET.
it was fitted up as a weaving factory, suggesting in that
locality visions of Bailie Nicol Jarvie, and it remained a
notable feature of old Saltmarket till its removal about the year
1830. The site was eventually purchased by the Corporation
for improvement purposes under their Act of 1866/ the carry-
ing out of which has brought about the rebuilding of a
large portion of Saltmarket Street. During alterations on
the west side of the street an inscribed stone was found
^ Glasg. Rec. iii. pp. 138-9; Glasg. Fades, pp. 162-4; Regality Club, i.
PP- 71-3-
52 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
embedded in the back wall of a tenement entering by close
No. 122. The building was comparatively new, having been
erected in the eighteenth century, while the lettering on the
stone was obviously ancient. As deciphered it ran thus :
Has pater Andreas antistes condidit edes
Presbiteris choro Glasgu famulantibus almo.
— " These buildings Bishop Andrew put up for the priests
who serve the flourishing choir of Glasgow." No buildings
answering to this description are known to have ever been
erected in Saltmarket Street or its vicinity, and it is surmised
that the stone had been originally fixed into the place of
the Vicars Choral whom Bishop Andrew Muirhead (1455-
73) formed into a college, and persumably provided with a
dwelling. The Vicars' place became ruinous shortly after
the Reformation, and the stone was probably then picked
up by an aesthetical builder to adorn a wall. No doubt it
has had various wanderings, but always under careful tending,
and it now rests in a Corporation Museum.^
Properties on the east side of the street usually extended
to the Molendinar Burn, beyond which was Eaglesham's
Croft.^ One of these properties, consisting of " lymn-hollis,
bark-hollis, steip-hoUis and a bark loft," belonged in 1673
to Andrew W^eallis, merchant, from whom, it may be
assumed that the opening shown in a plan of 1760 took
the name of Weel Close, and, if this be so, it settles an old
etymological puzzle.^ Lands on the east side of the burn
had been acquired in 1734 as a site for St. Andrew's
Church, and in 1768 the town council obtained an act of
parliament authorising further purchases for the formation
^Scottish Historical Review, \\. ■^^. iio-i. ^ Antea, p. 33.
^Glasg. Chart, il. p. 362; Raid's Old Glasgow, pp. 197-9.
c
X
y<
r.
y.
SALTMARKET AND BRIDGEGATE
S3
of St, Andrew's Street in the line of the old close, and for
the enlargement of the space around the church, now
consisting of St. Andrew's Square.^
The South Port or " Barres-yet " seems to have been
placed athwart Saltmarket Street a little north of the spot
where it branched into Bridgegate. In 1569 the magistrates
ST. ANDREW'S ESTABLISHED CHURCH.
and council gave to the respective proprietors on each- side
of the street the pieces of waste land lying between their
front tenements and the port. To Archibald Hommil,
citizen, was given the eastern portion, measuring 8^- feet in
breadth, for payment of 13 s. ^d. yearly. On the west side James
Anderson and Alison Lyon, spouses, got a piece of ground
on which to build a small shop, for payment of 6s. 8d.
^ Glasg. Rec. iii. pp. 130-1.
54 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
yearly. A corner tenement on the north side of Bridgegate,
belonging to the prebendaries of the Collegiate Church of
St. Mary, is described, in 1587, as lying on the "west side
of the South Port and south side of the lands of James
Anderson," probably the individual who acquired ground
for a shop in 1569.^
It was apparently with the view of avoiding the Molendinar
and Camlachie burns, with their frequent floodings, that
instead of continuing Walker-gait in a direct line to the south,
and there crossing the Clyde, traffic was kept on the right bank
of the united stream for the remainder of its course, and the
earliest Glasgow Bridge was constructed over the river some
little distance below the point of confluence, which was at
first considerably farther west than it is at present. This
is shown by the descriptions of properties in the west
division of Bridgegate, some of which are bounded by
" antiquum transitum de MaHndinar," the " aulde stude of
Malyndoner," or the " place in which the burn of Malyn-
dinor used to flow."^ Starting from the South Port, the
path towards the Clyde kept at some distance from the
right bank of the burn, and a crossing place was not
fixed upon till the burn was out of the way. Henry the
Minstrel is probably relating a fact when he mentions that
in Wallace's time the bridge was made of "tre."^ Most
stone bridges in early times were preceded by timber
structures. In a document dated in 1285 houses in Fisher-
gait are referred to as lying near the bridge of Clyde,* but
'^ Glasg. Prot. Nos. 1636-7, 1861, 2810, 2999.
^ Glasg. Prot. Nos. 169, 190-2. Through change of the burn's course in
time of floods disputes among neighbours sometimes arose {lb. No. 1654).
2 " Glaskow bryg, that byggyt was of tre " (Book vii. 1. 533).
* Paisley Reg. p. 400.
SALTMARKET AND BRIDGEGATE SS
there is nothing to indicate of what material the bridge was
composed. Fishergait is identified with the lower part of
the present Stockwell Street, and it is probable that in those
days the path from Barresyet to the bridge, separating
Mutland Croft on the north from Little Green on the
south, had an open field on each side. The laying out of the
Little Green for building purposes is first heard of in 1503,
when five parcels of land, each consisting of two roods,
were disposed of by the town council for payment to the
common purse of sums varying from los. to 20s. yearly.
Between two of the plots there was a lane, five ells in
breadth, giving access from the street to the burn, and it
was provided that between the westmost plot and the bridge
no buildings should be erected.^ Before the close of the
sixteenth century both the north and south sides of Bridgegate
were largely occupied by buildings, though a piece of ground
in which there were " dubs " or pools frequented by geese,
and known from an early period by the name of Guts
Dubs^ remained for a long time vacant. After Bridgegate
was so far occupied by buildings, the adjoining ground on
the west, including Goosedubs, was called Greenhead, as
being the upper end of what was left of the main portion
of the Old Green. In 1588, when the town council, to
meet urgent liabilities, had to sell parts of their common
lands, several roods of Greenhead were disposed of. Two
of these roods of "land at the Goose Dubes" were reacquired
'^ Dioc. Reg. Prot. Nos. 44, 49-53; Glasg. Chart, i. pt. i. Abstract, pp.9,
10. In the transfer of what appears to be the westmost building plot on
the south side of Bridgegate in 1537, it is stated that "the balyaes and the
haell consell hes dischargit ony maner of settin of land fra Jhon Blakuodis
hows to the bryg, in tyme to cum, bot that it remane for ever to be ane
common gaeyt to the wattyr " {Glasg. Prot. No. i 300).
S6 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
by the town council in 1657. The conveyance to the town
narrates the previous sale of the ground, which is described
as lying on the east side of Stockwellgait and forming part
of the " waist landis " belonging to the town, " commonly
called the Goosedubs," and it is stated that " said two roods
shall ly still unbuildit with the rest of their common lands
ther, they never being buildit as yit since the first outfewing
OLD STOCKWELL BRIDGE, 1825.
therof." Parts of the Goosedub lands were included in a
charter granted, in 1691, by the town council to "John
Aird, elder, and Grissell Nisbet, spouses, in liferent, and
John Aird, younger, their son, in fee." John Aird, younger,
who was five times provost of Glasgow, between 1705 and
1722 (ten years in all), extended his Goosedubs property
by additional purchases, and in 1723 he mortified the whole
to the Merchants' House. Aird's properties, as well as others
adjoining, have recently been acquired by the Corporation
SALTMARKET AND BRIDGEGATE 57
EAST VIEW OF THE BRIDGEGATE FROM STOCKWELL.
58 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
under their Improvements Act of 1897. The old build-
ings have been taken down, and in their place a substantial
block of shops and dwelling-houses has been erected.
M'Ure, in his History of Glasgow, refers to " Provost Aird's
wynd, reaching east from the Stockwell-street to the foot of
Old-wynd." ^ The name Aird's-wynd, however, has not
been found in title deeds, and on old maps, such as those
of Ross in 1773 and M'Arthur in 1778, the lane is called
Goosedubs, and it now bears the name of Goosedubs Street.
Aird's properties did not come so far north as the lane, and
in the titles of the bordering properties the lane is simply
described as " the back street leading from Stockwellgate to
Bridgegate." The lane on the east of the properties, leading
from Bridgegate northward to Goosedubs Street, is called
Aird's Lane.^
M'Ure, writing in 1736, enumerates several tenements
in Bridgegate belonging to merchants and other citizens,
those on the south including " the great tenement belonging
to Sir John Bell, late Provost of Glasgow," the " tenement
of the heirs of John Campbell of Woodside," and " the
fine lodging of Colin Campbell of Blythswood, Esq." The
Blythswood mansion is said to have been built by Colin
Campbell, who was provost of Glasgow in 1660. Blyths-
wood lands, the prebendal endowment of the parson of
Erskine, had been acquired by the Elphinstones, and along
with Gorbals were conveyed by Sir George Elphinstone to
Viscount Belhaven in 1634. The deed of conveyance
includes Sir George's tenement of land " lyand within the
citie " and also " the dowcatt standing upon the west syde
of the said citie, with the grene called the Little Grein
there." Colin Campbell acquired Blythswood from Sir
1 M'Ure, p. 132. ^ Glasg. Rec. iii. p. 141.
SALTMARKET AND BRIDGEGATE 59
Robert Douglas of Blackerstoun, to whom Viscount Belhaven
had transferred the lands, and he got a Crown charter of con-
firmation on 25th July, 1649.^ An entry in the Council record
in 1653 shows that he also got the " dowcatt." Mischievous
boys were in the habit of amusing themselves by disturbing
his pigeons, and " in answer to Colin Campbell his desyre,"
the town council authorised him " to build some little fixit
work befor his dowcat doir on the Grene, for withhalding of
boyes thairfra wha troubles his dowes be chapping at all
tymes on the said doire."^ From a MS. protocol dated
20th November, 1657, it is ascertained that Colin Campbell
had two adjoining tenements in Bridgegait, and it is possible
that one of them may have been that which Sir George
Elphinstone conveyed to Viscount Belhaven in 1634. The
protocol in question narrates that " Colin Campbell of
Blythswood, merchant, burgess," for implement of his part
of a marriage contract between Colin Campbell, his son,
and " Margaret Lauder, dochter to John Lauder, merchant,
burgess of Edinburgh, and ane of the present bailies thereof"
(who afterwards became Sir John Lauder of Fountainhall,
baronet), resigned in favour of his son and spouse, a
tenement of land, with yard and pertinents, lying between
Bridgegate on the north, the Little Green on the South,
and " the said Coline Campbell, his uther landis, which
sumtyme pertenit to Alexander Craufurd " on the west. ^
The liferent of the elder Campbell was reserved, and it is
probable that he utilised both tenements as the site for his
spacious new residence. Occupied by the successive Blyths-
wood lairds till about the year 1770, the mansion formed
part of the entailed estate, but in the year 1802 it was sold,
1 Reg. Mag. Sig. ix. No, 2106. '^ G/asg. Rec. ii. p. 272.
3 MS. Prot. Book of William Yair, 1657-60, p. 31.
6o
GLASGOW MEMORIALS
and the price converted into a ground annual. The railway
lines converging on St. Enoch's Station now cover the site.
In 1664 the town council allowed Colin Campbell to
take in a piece of " commoune grund on the west side of
his yard, provyding he build a dyk about it lyk the
hospitalles yaird dyk thair."^ Sixty-five years previous to that
RESIDENCE OF THE CAMPBELLS OF BLYTHSWOOD, BRIDGEGATE.
time the merchants of Glasgow had founded a new hospital
for the benefit of their decayed brethren. Goosedubs had
been proposed as a site, but the south side of Bridgegate,
west of the grounds of Blythswood mansion, was preferred.
The earlier buildings were in 1659 replaced by what M'Ure
styles a " magnificent structure," consisting of hospital, guild
hall, and steeple with a "stately bell," while south of the
buildings was a "large flower garden, 201 feet in length and
72 feet in breadth, fenced about on the east, south, and west
1 Glas. Rec. iii. p. 39.
SALTMARKET AND BRIDGEGATE
6i
with a strong stone wall of nine foot high."^ The Bridge-
gate property was sold by the Merchants' House in 1817,
but under reservation of the steeple, which it was resolved
should be preserved as an interesting relic, forming, as it
does, a conspicuous object in most early views of the city.
THE MERCHANTS' HALL.
Provost Bell's tenement referred to by M'Ure stood at
the east extremity and south side of Bridgegate. It was
occupied by the Duke of York (afterwards James VII.)
during his visit to Glasgow in October, 1681. One of the
items of expenditure connected with that visit consisted of
£S6c) *' for provisions in the proveistis hous the tyme the
Duke was there and theis that were with him."'^ The house
remained for some time in the possession of the Provost's
^M'Ure, pp. 203-4 ; G/as. Prot. No. 3557. ^Glas. Rec. iii. p. 304.
62 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
descendants, and between 1749 and 1776 it was occupied by
the Ship Bank, the first successful venture of the kind in
Glasgow. In consequence of its corner position this building,
or what was left of it, was twice acquired by the Corporation
for street-widening purposes. In 1793, when the feuing of
Hutchesontown was planned, it was evident that success
depended to a large extent on the establishment of ready
communication between the south and north sides of the
river, and accordingly Parliamentary authority was obtained
for the construction of a bridge in the line of Saltmarket
and the prolongation of that street to the river. At that
time the street, as a thoroughfare, went no farther south
than Bridgegate, though there was an opening giving access
to the Laigh Green. The corner house, which then projected
considerably beyond what is now the west building line of
Saltmarket, was purchased by the Town Council in 1797,
and after taking down so much as was necessary for the
widened street they sold the remainder, which from that time
remained in private ownership till recently, when it was
reacquired by the Corporation for the widening of Bridgegate
as authorised by the Improvements Act of 1897. In conse-
quence of the removal of the east portion of the old building
about 1797, the gable facing Saltmarket had to be rebuilt,
and here, in the upper part, a stone bore an inscription
indicating the height to which the Clyde had risen during a
great flood on 12th March, 1782. Assuming that the
inscription recorded an actual fact, the stone had probably
been removed from the lower part of the original gable, or,
as conjectured by some, it may have been taken from Silver-
craig's Land on the opposite side of the street, and placed
in its new position at the whim of the builder.
Provost Bell's garden, like the other gardens attached to
SALTMARKET AND BRIDGEGATE 63
the dwellings at the east end of Bridgegate, extended to
Molendinar Burn, The "brig at the provest yaird end, at
the Barras yet port," is referred to in 1664 as the model of
another "brig" then proposed to be built for " moir
comodious entrie to Linningshaugh/" Linningshaugh, now
forming the south-west corner of the New Green, had just
then been purchased by the Town Council, and a bridge over
the burn was necessary for its proper utilisation. The bridge
was duly erected, and also another in the following year, at
the " foot of Camlachie Burn," the stream which joined the
Molendinar a short distance east of Saltmarket. But an
evil fate befel the " twa brigs," In the Council record of
17th July, 1666, it is narrated that "yesterday there having
falline out in the afternoone, betwixt four and fyve houres,
the most great impetuous raine that hes bein sein in the
memorie of man, and that upon ane suddanty, all in and
verie neir the toune, quhilk rais northward and com doune
the burne on the east syd of the toune, sua that many were
supprysed therby, it falling out in such a suddanty, all that
day being verie fair and hot till that tyme, and therby brak
out the mylne laid of the Subdeanes mylne foiranent the hie
kirkyaird, as also the northwest newk of the gavill of the
subdeanes malt mylne, and brak doune and destroyed twa
new laitly builded brigs, ane at the foot of the Saltmercat,
and the uther beneth that betwixt the new Grein and Litle
Grein." '^
The skinners of Glasgow had long the primary use of the
south-east corner of Little Green for the purpose of drying
their wool and leather, and in 1744 the adjoining ground
on the west was appropriated for the erection of slaughter-
houses, the first occasion on which such accommodation was
^Gias. Rec. iii, p, 39. '^ lb. p. 82.
64 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
provided for the public. Six years afterwards the Town
Council leased to William Fleming and William Murdoch a
piece of ground on the east side of the burn, opposite
" Skinners' Green," for the erection of a saw-mill. From
about that time Bridgegate began to deteriorate as a resi-
dential locality. The inhabitants complained specially of '* the
nuisance of the sawmiln dam, by stagnating the burn and
keeping in the whole filth and nastiness carried down in said
burn." On the forcible stoppage of the mill in 1764 the
Town Council and the ejected lessees entered upon litigation,
the proceedings in which, and specially the sketch plan
produced in process, have preserved much interesting informa-
tion regarding the district at that time. Witnesses generally
concurred in describing the polluted state of the burn, though
one of them remembered " that before the tan work in the
Gallowgate was built, the water in the Molendinar was so
good that people in the Bridgegate took the water thereof
for the brewing of their ale." All that had changed, and
the same witness had seen " such a thick scum upon the top
of the water as he thinks would have carried a partridge ;
and he has actually seen the bird water-wagtail standing
thereon without sinking." The skinners, too, " while stand-
ing in the burn bare-legged, washing their sheep skins,"
were bitten by "some kind of vermin," the bites "raising
lumps " on their legs, but these obnoxious animals had
disappeared after the saw-mill was removed.^
At first the slaughter-houses extended to the margin of the
river, but about the beginning of the nineteenth century the
Town Council resolved to continue Clyde Street eastward to
the New Green, and it became necessary to shift the build-
ings farther back. Parliamentary authority for effecting these
' Reid's Old Glasgow, pp. 126-40.
'f: =Q
— 5^
U
^ S
^
SALTMARKET AND BRIDGEGATE 6s
changes was obtained in 1806. In consideration of a sum of
money paid to the skinners they surrendered their rights in
the Green they had hitherto occupied, and a portion of that
ground was appropriated for the prolonged street, part was
included in the site of the new courthouses, and the remainder
was used in connection with the altered slaughter-houses.
Between the slaughter-houses and the dwellings on the south
side of Bridgegate a space was occupied as a market for traffic
in old clothes, while all around a dense population clustered.
Bridgegate and its vicinity had become one of the most
congested and unattractive spots of the city, when the advent
of the Union Railway in 1864 produced a radical change.
The slaughter-houses and old clothes market were among
the first removals, and open spaces soon began to take
the place of crowded buildings. Subsequent railway exten-
sions effected further clearances, and these operations,
combined with the exercise by the municipality of their
powers for removal of insanitary buildings and widening of
streets, have produced in this district a transformation more
complete, perhaps, than is to be found in any other part of
the city.^
1 The sketch plan referred to on p. 64. is reproduced in Glasghu Fades
p. 494.
E
V.
STOCKWELLGAIT AND THE OLD GREEN
IN early times it was customary for the heads of religious
houses to possess dwellings in the more important
towns throughout the country. Many of these holdings
were originally Crown gifts, the object, according to Cosmo
Innes, being to enable the great church lords to accompany
the Sovereign in his frequent changes of residence, as well
as to secure responsible and improving tenants for the
Crown property in the new burghs.^ By royal grants the
Bishop of Glasgow owned a toft {i.e. a dwelling with land
attached) in each of the burghs of Montrose, Dumfries,
Forfar, and Stirling.^ ^ing William gave to the Aber-
brothick monks of St. Thomas the Martyr a toft in each
of his burghs and residences, and it is not improbable that
Glasgow, which of old had its chapel of St. Thomas, like-
wise contained a residence for the monks of the great
northern monastery. Other Glasgow sites of the description
referred to are more easily identified. The Abbey of Paisley
had at least three properties in the city, one called the
Monks' House at the corner of High Street and Rottenrow ;
another described in the Abbey rental as the "ynnis before
the Blak Freris" ; and the third, to be more particularly
^ Early History, p. 35. ^Reg. Episc. Nos. 33, 50, 74, yy.
STOCKWELLGAIT AND OLD GREEN 67
noticed, situated at "the Stok well."^ Bishop Joceline
(1175-99) g^ve to the Knights Templars a toft in the
burgh and the fishing of one net in the Clyde, and this
toft seems to be identified with the property on the west
side of Stockwell Street which in the sixteenth century is
traced in the possession of the Knights of St. John, succes-
sors of the Templars.'^ These military orders may have
exercised their fishing rights through dependents occupying
the toft dwellings, but though it has been conjectured that
Stockwell Street got its original name of Fishergait on
account of its being chiefly occupied by fishermen, there is
no direct evidence that any of the residenters belonged to
that class. Besides, if the nam^e had originated in this way
Fisher-raw rather than Fisher-gait would have been the
designation. Gait was applied to the thoroughfare, not to
the dwellings along its course. Why this particular gait
should be much frequented by fishermen is sufficiently
obvious if the "Stock well" be regarded as the forerunner
of that " fine fountain " at the Broomielaw which in
M'Ure's time supplied water to " all the boats, barges, and
lighters' crews that arrives at the harbour from Port-
Glasgow, and all other vessels which comes from the
Highlands and far-off isles of Scotland." ^ The Stock well —
so called probably from its being fenced by stocks or
stakes — was within convenient reach of boatmen and
voyagers, and it may be supposed that the track between
it and the river, the Fishergait, was more regularly
traversed by fishermen than by any other class of citizens.
The well originally stood in the roadway. In 1594-5
several persons were convicted for having injured it " with
"^Paisley Abbey, Appx. p. civ.
^Reg. Episc. No. 41 ; Glasg. Prot. Nos. 58, 3409. ^ jyi'Ure, p. 231.
68 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
cartis and carris."^ In 1638 instructions were given to
have "the stock wall" removed and set down in " ane uther
place," and at the same time a well at the cross was to be
taken down, the cavity covered in, and the '' heid that was
thairon " was to be set upon " the said new wall in the
Stockwallgait." ^ The well was closed in 1856.
Another grant of Bishop Joceline, that by which he
confirmed to the monks of his old abbey of Melrose
" the toft in the burgh of Glasgow which Ranulf of
Hadintun built in the first building of the burgh "^
is of special interest on account of its allusion to the
beginnings of Glasgow as a municipality. The Bishop
had recently obtained the King's authority to have a
burgh, with a weekly market and the enjoyment of
privileges such as other burghs possessed. When Bishop
John was about to set the municipal machinery of St.
Andrews in motion he obtained the services of Mainard,
a burgess of Berwick, where he had acquired a knowledge
of burgh usages,^ and it is not unlikely that Ranulf had
come from Haddington to Glasgow in a similar capacity.
Of such inaugural proceedings no details have been
preserved, but the records of about a century later disclose
the existence of a fully equipped burgh with its market
place and market cross, its tolbooth and the surrounding
dwellings and trading places of the burgesses. The mem-
bers of the new community were located not around the
Cathedral, the district reserved for ecclesiastics, but on the
more commodious plain within easy reach of the river, and
in this vicinity was doubtless the building which Ranulf
erected. Though it is not likely that the precise site will
^ G/asg. Rec. i. p. 161. ^ lb. p. 390.
^ Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. p. 5. ^Middle Ages, p. 159.
STOCKWELLGAIT AND OLD GREEN 69
ever be certainly known, there is an opening for reasonable
conjecture in the contents of a document preserved in
Melrose chartulary. This consists of the transcript of a
letter under the seal of the community of Glasgow setting
forth that on 8th October, 1325, an "inquest" had found
that Thomas of Hall was rightful heir of certain lands in
the town of Glasgow, and that possession had been given
to him subject to the approval of the abbot for his interest.^
It may therefore be safely inferred that by this time the
monks had leased or feued their Glasgow property, and that
in 1325 it had come into the possession of Thomas of Hall
by inheritance. Further, an indication of the situation of
the property may be obtained from a document, dated in
the year 1454, wherein a tenement on the south side of
the street of " St. Tenaw" is described as bounded on the
east by the land of the lord abbot of Melros.^ It is not
known that the Border abbey ever possessed more than one
property in Glasgow, and though its interest at that time
may not have extended beyond the right to draw rent or
feu-duty from the Halls, it is not improbable that the toft
of the twelfth century and the "land" of 1454 were the same.
Now, it happens that of several Glasgow properties belonging
to the Halls of Fulbar, a family who may have sprung
from the Hall who succeeded to heritage in 1325, was a
tower or fortalice and orchard which may well have been
the toft which the Abbot of Melrose occupied on the
occasion of his visits to Glasgow. Situated midway
between the tolbooth and the adjoining chapel of St. Mary
on the one side and the ancient chapel of St. Tenew on the
other, it was just in the position which an abbot might
have selected. The owners of the tower had also other
^ Lib. Col. p. 237. ^Ib. p. 174.
70 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
eligible neighbours in the Templars, whose adjoining toft
was situated nearer the river. The ownership of the tower can
be traced in title-deeds from the middle of the sixteenth
century till the present time. Possessed by the Halls as a
single holding till the year 1575, the orchard was then
divided into lots and conveyed to different purchasers. Four
lots, with north frontage to what is now Argyle Street, of
from 12 to 18 ells each, and five lots with east frontage to
Stockwell Street of 12 ells each, exhausted most of the orchard.^
The tower situated to the south of the five lots and the
remainder of the orchard were retained by the Hall family
for some time, and after passing through the hands of
successive owners were in 1870 acquired by the Union
Railway Company, and partly used in the construction of
their bridge over Stockwell Street. At that time the tower
property formed No. 48 of Stockwell Street, and adjoining
it on the south was a tenement occupying part of the site
which had been formerly owned by the abbey of Paisley.
The Paisley Abbey property was purchased in 1285 from
a burgess of Glasgow, who was forced to part with it on
account of poverty, as narrated in a title-deed which is
specially notable as containing the earliest extant reference
to Glasgow Bridge. In the year 1505 the abbot sold to
Alan Steward of Cardonald a "land or tenement" described
as lying near the street called Stokwell, containing one rood
of land, viz. six ells in front, having another land or tene-
ment of Alan Steward on the south, the land or tenement
of Thomas Hall on the north, and the land or tenement
of Alexander Scot on the east.^ A yearly feu-duty of 5s.
was payable to the abbot and convent from the property,
'^ Glasg. Prot. Nos. 2145, 2147, 2442, 2560,610.
'^Paisley Reg. pp. 399-401, 433-4.
STOCKWELLGAIT AND OLD GREEN 71
which seems to be identified with that entered in the Abbey-
Rental : "Master Thomas Leis, of the Stokwell, v.s."i
Thomas Leis or Leys, designated vicar of Dreghorn, in
1530 and other dates, founded a chaplainry at the altar of
St. Michael in the Cathedral and another chaplainry in the
Parish Church of Cadder, and his properties on the east
side of Stockwell Street supplied parts of the endowments
of each. 2 A little farther north was a property which at
one time belonged to John Stewart, the first Provost of
Glasgow, and which afterwards came into the possession of
the Hall family, probably through the marriage of " Robyne
of Hall of the Fulbare," with Jonet Stewart, the Provost's
daughter. In 1497 ^^e property is referred to as lying on
the east side of the Fyschergate, and about a hundred years
later part of it is described as a yard with " foure fruit peir
treis thairupone." ^ The Abbey property appears to have
been intersected by the street when prolonged in its present
line. In the year 1540 the Town Council feued to "Allan
Stewart of Cardonell " a piece of ground on the north side
of the old Green and west side of " Stockwellgate,"
having a street frontage of 3 roods and a depth of
7 roods 4 ells. This ground was reacquired by the
town in 16 10, and in the title-deeds is described as
bounded on the north by the lands of the abbot and convent
of Paisley.* It is supposed that the latter lands filled up
the intermediate space to the Tower, and, if so, would
include a tenement sold by Robert Stewart to John Graham
of Dougalston in 1685, ^"^ '^^^^^ being successively
1 Paisley Abbey, Appx. p. civ.
"^Glasg. Prot. Nos. 1107, 11 28, 1368-9; Lib. Col. p. 92.
^ Reg. Episc. No. 476; Glasg. Proi. Nos. 182, 575, 915, 3291.
* MS. Inventory i. bundle 30; MS. A, Hegait's Protocol Book, p. 98.
72 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
possessed by John Stuart Crawfurd of Milton, and others,
was owned by John Strang, author of Glasgow and its Clubs,
whose trustees sold it to the Union Railway Company in
1869. For some years Dr. Strang leased part of the
property as SherifFs Chambers and Sheriff Clerk's Office.^
The property belonging to the Knights Templars, and
already referred to, was likewise situated on the west side
of Stockwell Street, but its precise position has not been
ascertained.^
During a financial emergency in 1588-9 the Town
Council resolved to sell portions of Green head, embracing
that part of the Old Green which was intersected by
the lower portion of Stockwell Street,^ but reserving space
for *' ane port passand to the watter of Clyd," this being
the water port giving access to the river at the north
end and west side of the old bridge. The ground was
to be sold by public roup, but only to burgesses and
freemen who dwelt in the town, and in addition to the
price each rood was to be burdened with 2od. of yearly
feu-duty. Six lots, making up 24 roods in all, were sold
at the total cash price of Ll^S-> besides feu-duties."*
Among the other sales at this time the Town Council
parted with the crooks of the Milldam, where the inhabi-
tants had been accustomed to assemble yearly and hold
the Whitsunday Court for perambulation of the marches,
and transaction of other public business.^ Now that these
lands were sold, another meeting place required to be
selected. Accordingly on 4th June, 1590, the Town
Council resolved that " upoun Witsontwyisday yeirlie in
^ Transactions Glasg. Arch. Soc. 2d series, i. pp. 88-9.
^ G/asg. Prot. Nos. 2771, 3409. ^ Glas. Rec. 12 1-2.
^ Glasg Prot. No. 3252. ^ Glas. Rec. i. pp. 50, 84, 93.
C
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X i.
O <:
3: I
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STOCKWELLGAIT AND OLD GREEN 73
tyme cumyng, becaus the Mylndame is sett in few, quhilk
wes the place of thair conventioun for roiping of thair
commoun gudes and uther thingis, that efter the outputting
of the outlandimeris in the morning and ryding about the
marches, they sail all convene betuix the buttis of the
Grene and thair rope all thingis that suld and aucht to be
ropit yeirlie, in presence of the haill commounaltie." But,
curtailing the open-air proceedings, it was further ordained
that immediately after the roup the " saidis provest, baillies
and counsall pas to the tolbuith, and thair, in thair coun-
sallhous, chuse and elect sik honest men as thesaurer, clerk,
maister of werk and menstrallis, as they wer wont to chuse
at the Mylndame in tyme bypast."^ This practice was
continued until 1726, when a change became desirable on
account of the annual gathering being made the occasion
of disorderly proceedings. A Council minute, dated 12th
April of that year, narrates that " upon land meithing day,
quhich is the first Tuesday of June, yearly, and night pre-
ceding, there are a great many abuses committed by boys,
servants, and others, to the disturbance of the peace of the
place, and some customs crept in quhich are not agreeable."
For avoiding these inconveniences it was resolved that,
instead of the customary " land meithing," the Dean of
Guild and Deacon Convener should get certain merchants
and craftsmen to go round the town's marches in May,
and report the result of their inspection to the Magistrates
and Council at the annual roup of the Common Good,
which roup was for the future appointed to take place in
the Court Hall of the Tolbooth.^
After the sale of the Greenhead lots in 1588-9, the Old
Green, extending from the River Clyde on the south to St.
^Glas. Rec. i. p. 152. 2^5 Council Rec. xxi. p. 34.6.
74 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
Enoch's Croft on the north, and from the Stockwell tene-
ments on the east to St. Enoch's Burn on the west,
remained almost intact for another hundred years. Used as
a place of public resort, it is referred to in 1558 as the
playground of Glasgow {palestram de Glasgw lusoriam)^ and
here the " fut-ballis " purchased out of the common good
may have been annually tossed about on Shrove Tuesday.
This day, which immediately preceded the season of Lent,
was from an early date known in Scotland as Eastern's
E'en, a name which appears to signify the eve of the Fast.
In the olden time Eastern's E'en was set apart as a day of
festive celebration, among the prevailing revels the playing
of football being conspicuous, and it is interesting to note
that in this respect Glasgow complied with the usual custom.
The city's accounts for 1573-4 show that on 12th
February 12s. were paid for " futt balls." In the following
year "sax fut-ballis" were again purchased for 12s., and the
merriment was further encouraged by the payment of i8d.,
" on Fastrinis even, to ane fule with the treyn suerd "
(wooden sword), and of the like sum to " the pyper called
Ryall Dayis for playing." The annual supply of six foot-
balls at the expense of the Common Good was continued
till the year 1589-90, when a cordiner named John Neill,
in return for remission of fees on his admission as a
burgess, undertook to furnish, yearly, during his lifetime,
" upon Fastrinis even, sex guid and sufficient fut ballis, " or
else 20s. as the price thereof. Under this arrangement the
City Treasurer for the time was relieved from the necessity of
purchasing footballs at the annual festival, and perhaps his
successors did not resume the practice.^
At one time calves were allowed to graze on the Green
^ Glasg. Prot. No. 469. ^ Glasg. Rec. pp. 149, 451-69.
STOCKWELLGAIT AND OLD GREEN 75
during summer, a " calf herd " being employed to keep
them from trespassing and " furthe of scaythe." As
remuneration this official was to get sixpence from each
owner of the calves, and to have his " meit and drink. " by
daily rotation from such owners and from the occupiers of
adjoining lands "for keeping of their cornes." Any horses
put on the Green required to be " langalit," their fore and
hind legs being tied together to prevent them from running.
Cows were not permitted to graze on the Green before
Michaelmas,^ In 1624 a different system was in operation,
as the grazing was set to a tacksman for payment of a
yearly rent of ;^50, " but with this expres provisioun that
all persones haif libertie and licence to use pastyme and
game thairin and use thair recreatioun as of befoir."^ Trees
were planted in 1613, and again in 1660.^ Northward of
the Green, and separated from it by a ditch or *' seuch"*
somewhat in the line of the present Howard Street, were
not only the cemetery and grounds connected with St.
Tenew's Chapel, but also various rigs of land in St. Tenew's
croft, kept by their owners in a state of cultivation till
about the year 1584, when some portions were disposed of
in building lots, forming what was latterly known as St.
Enoch's Wynd, Shortly afterwards the construction of a
causeway through the Green was accomplished, partly
through money contributions and partly by the labour of
the inhabitants. At sound of the drum each householder
was to send a servant to work at the causeway, and in case
of failure he was liable in a penalty of 6s. 8d., to be applied
towards the work.^
^ Glasg. Rec. i. pp. 52, 68, 287. '^ lb. p. 342.
^Ib. i. p. 336; ii. p. 436. '^Glasg. Prot. Nos. 2690, 2860.
^ Glasg. Rec. 190-1, 204.
76
GLASGOW MEMORIALS
In consequence of the formation of the New Green, land
for which was acquired piecemeal from 1662 onwards, it
became unnecessary to maintain the Old Green for its
original purpose, and accordingly, in 1696, an offer by the
partners of a ropework manufactory to lease the whole area,
TENEMENT AT THE FOOT OF STOCKWELL.
with the exception of a small space at the east end reserved
for a timber yard, was accepted. The rent was to be ;^io
sterling if the town maintained the dykes, but an abatement
of ;^i 13s. 4d. was to be allowed if the lessees undertook
the repairs. Though the ropework company was thus
accommodated the inhabitants had probably still access to the
Green, especially along the river bank, for purposes of
recreation. M'Ure, writing in 1736, refers to the Green
as one of three parks in the city, remarking that " it is
STOCKWELLGAIT AND OLD GREEN 77
only fenced round with palisadoes and no stone wall, but
that loss is made up by 1 50 growing trees round the Green,
pretty large. "^ In 1733 a large portion of the Green was
appropriated as a site for the Town's Hospital, a building
which was used as such till about the year 1843, when it
was superseded by the poorhouse in Parliamentary Road.
OLD TOWN HOSPITAL, GREAT CLYDE STREET.
Other portions were subsequently disposed of for building
purposes, and the Town Council having acquired from the
Merchants' House the site of the old chapel of St. Tenew
and the three acres by which it was surrounded, as well as
other adjoining ground, the combined lands were laid out
on a feuing plan and put into the market. Lots in Jamaica
Street, the westmost thoroughfare in the new building
scheme, were advertised by the Merchants' House as early
as 1 75 1, and ten years later the Town Council made a
iM'Ure, p. 121.
78
GLASGOW MEMORIALS
similar announcement. An impetus was given to building
operations by the opening of Jamaica Street bridge in 1772,
about which time St. Enoch's Square and the connecting
streets took shape, and in the course of a few years most
of the available ground was in the hands of individual
owners and covered with buildings. A track along the
north bank of the river led from the old bridge to the
THE FIRST BROOMIELAW BRIDGE, 180O.
Broomielaw,! and this was latterly formed into Clyde Street,
between which and the river was the " Town's Dovecote
Green," as shown on M'Arthur's plan of 1778. In the year
1818 the Town Council sold this ground at the price of
£1166 los. 9d. to the owners of property in Clyde Street,
their interest in it being proportionate to frontage, but it
^ The old road is referred to in 1 742 when the Town Council conveyed
the site of the bottle works, describing it as a "piece of waste ground upon
the west side of the burn, at the foot of the Old Green and north side of
the highway leading from the Water port of the burgh to the harbour of
Broomielaw " (MS. Chartulary, xx. p. 281).
STOCKWELLGAIT AND OLD GREEN 79
was not to be used for " building or other purposes except
raising grass, grazing sheep, making hay, and planting the
ground with trees and shrubs." The rights of the public
were also reserved for walking and access to the river ; but
this arrangement subsisted only till 1840, when the Clyde
Trustees exercised their parliamentary power of acquiring
the ground for purposes of navigation,^ and that portion
of the Old Green now forms part of the accommodation
works of Glasgow Harbour.
^ Chartulary, xxv. pp. 105, 548. In 1809 the Town Council conveyed
to the Clyde Trustees, at the price of 29s. per square yard, 8721 square
yards, described as the " quay or harbour of the Broomelaw, with the ground
thereto adjoining, bounded on the east by a line in continuation of the
west side of Jamaica Street and the new bridge, on the south by the
river Clyde, on the west by ground sometime belonging to William
Robertson and then to the Clyde Trustees, and on the north by the
public road" {lb. xxiv. p. 385).
VI.
NELSON STREET AND LONGCROFT
FORMED in 1798, a year famous in naval annals, Nelson
Street was named in honour of the victorious Admiral
who had just won fresh laurels at the battle of the Nile,
and it happens that the locality is likewise associated with
the memory of another heroic personage who bore a dis-
tinguished share in the campaigns of that period. This
was Sir John Moore, who was born in " Donald's Land,"
the site of which is now occupied by the modern structure
at the west corner of Trongate and Nelson Street. As
shown by M' Arthur's plan of 1778, there was then no
opening in the frontage of Trongate between High Street
and Candleriggs. At the place where Nelson Street broke
through there seems to have been a narrow passage along
back tenements, and if connected, as it probably was, by
closes in the front tenements, communication of some sort
may have been obtainable between Trongate and Bell
Street. Nelson Street itself was not adapted for vehicular
traffic. Averaging only 22 feet in width, it consisted of a
pathway laid with flagstones, and having in the centre a
channel for running off the surface water. The buildings
on the east side, other than those fronting Bell Street
and Trongate, were only two stories in height, the ground
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NELSON STREET AND LONGCROFT 8i
stories consisting of a continuous row of shops much in
demand by bird-dealers.
In early times the site of Nelson Street seems to have
been occupied in connection
with tenements fronting High
Street and Trongate. Close
by were buildings possessing
historic interest. The Tol-
booth, erected in 1626 on the
site of one which previously
existed, was still in use in
1798. The adjoining Chapel
of St. Mary, dating from the
thirteenth century or earlier,
had long before disappeared,
but its site was occupied by
the Town Hall, Exchange,
and Assembly Rooms. West-
ward were intervening tene-
ments, and then a property
belonging to Robert Brisbane,
of Milton, described in the
title-deeds as a " tenement
of land, with close, houses,
stables, and pertinents, lying
near the Exchange on the
north side of Trongate." In 1796 Brisbane set his
property, on a 200 years' lease, to Joshua Noble, wright
and builder, who thereupon erected the tenement forming
the north side of Trongate and east side of Nelson Street.
At that time there was a piazza, formed with square
pillars and arches, in front of the Exchange and adjoining
SIR JOHN MOORE'S BIRTH-PLACE.
82 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
buildings. It had been Noble's intention to appropriate
the piazza space for shops, but the Magistrates prohibited
this encroachment, and in consequence the landlord abated
£§ of the yearly rent. This shows that the arched
promenade extended as far west as Nelson Street. At
the north end and west side of Nelson Street, buildings
called Antigua Court were erected by James Miller, a
merchant who traded with Antigua. In a conveyance of
1 8 17, granted by the trustee on his estate, to "the Glas-
gow Tontine Society, established in 18 16," the property
is described as forming " three sides of a square, known by
the name of Antigua Place," built on what was formerly
a " cross house at the head of the close of a new fore
tenement of land on the north side of Trongate." The
old property was bounded on the north by the " lands
sometimes called Longcroft, now Bell's Wynd." ^
Authority for widening Nelson Street was obtained under
the Improvements Act of 1866, but the claims of other
districts were more urgent, and the powers were allowed to
expire. Under the act of 1897 the scheme was revived, and
it has now been carried into effect. Buildings on the west side
were not interfered with, except towards the north end where
straightening was needed, but on the east side an entire
clearance has taken place, and new buildings have been erected
at a distance of fifty feet from the opposite building line.
About the year 1807, when William Stirling & Sons
laid out their ground adjoining Stirling's Square in build-
ing lots, the northward thoroughfare in the line of Nelson
Street was called North Nelson Street. Its width was
20 feet, the west side being occupied by a row of buildings,
on the other side of which was South Albion Street, so
1 MS. Sasine Reg, xlv. p. 6j.
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NELSON STREET AND LONGCROFT 83
called to distinguish it from the earlier street to the north,
which thereafter got the name of North Albion Street.
These two narrow streets were sometimes called East and
West Albion Street respectively. One of the buildings in
the east street was occupied as Glasgow Post Office from
1 8 10 till 1840. It is described by Cleland as having "an
ashler front, relieved in the centre, and terminating in a
pediment. At one end of the building is a covered entry,
and at the other a spacious lobby, for the accommodation
of the public. A range of windows is so placed in the
lobby that persons having boxes in the office can see if
they have letters before the delivery commences."^ In
1842 the building was acquired by trustees for the "Chris-
tian Brotherhood Church," and it was known as Nelson
Street Chapel till 1870, when it was conveyed to a purchaser
for business purposes. In 1898 the property, then known
as 12-16 South Albion Street, was acquired by the Corpora-
tion, and has been used in connection with the extension of
the Bazaar. The middle row of tenements was purchased
and removed under the powers contained in the Improve-
ments Act of 1866. The two streets were thus thrown
into one and called South Albion Street, a name which has
likewise been applied to the recently widened street through-
out its whole length. The designation bestowed in 1798
as a tribute to patriotic achievement, has thus been withdrawn,
any sentimental scruple having apparently been overcome in
the desire for securing greater unity in street nomenclature
and the reduction of duplications.
Westward of Nelson Street, Longcroft, at one time
consisting of open lands laid out in " rigs " or ridges,
'^Annals (1829), P- ' ^o. For full particulars regarding Glasgow Post
Office, see Sir James Marwick's Water Supply, etc., App. pp. 29-63.
84 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
belonging to sundry proprietors, extended as far as the old
Cow-Lone, now Queen Street. Northward the croft was
bounded by a lone in the line of the present Ingram Street.
In 1637 the Magistrates and Council purchased one of these
rigs, and laid out the southern portion as a flesh market,
which John Ray, who visited Glasgow in 1662, described
as "a very neat square flesh-market, scarce such an one
to be seen in England or Scotland." At the other end
of the rig houses for the making of candles were erected,
and eventually the street named Candleriggs was formed
through the ground. Meanwhile the Town Council had
purchased additional bits of land on each side of the original
rig, and the combined properties were utilised for various
purposes, including accommodation for the candlemakers.
Candle-making was a necessary but dangerous occupation,
on account of the inflammable nature of the material
handled in the process. In 1649 the place used for the
purpose was apparently too close to other buildings, as the
Town Council had before them a supplication for removing
of the " candilhoussis," and it was thought expedient that
they should be put to some convenient place, " quhairby
the towne may be frie of danger in respect of the many
suddent dangers hes fallen out throw occasion of fyris
rasit thairin." Five years afterwards the inhabitants were
alarmed by " the late miserable accident of fyre that fell
in Edinburgh throw occasione of ane candilhous, and the
great desolatione fallin out thereby " ; and candlemakers
were directed to provide themselves with premises in "out
places, ane hundreth yeards off^ any dwelling-houssis within
towne," under a penalty of j^ioo and loss of their freedom.^
Repetitions of such orders occur till, in 1658, suitable
'^ G/asg. Rec. ii. pp. 181, 300.
NELSON STREET AND LONGCROFT 85
outlying ground was provided by the Town Council giving
liberty to the candlemakers " to build ther candlehoussis on
the north end of the towne's rig, at the back of the flesch
mercat." To secure isolation it was decided that the south-
most candlehouse should be " sex scoir ells distant from
the thorne hedges of the said flesch mercat." Each house
was to be ten ells in length and five ells in width. The
northmost house, next the " Grammerschol Lone," was to
pay to the town 20s. Scots yearly, the next to the south
30s., and so on, with an augmentation of los. for each
remove southward.^ For affording access to the candlehouses
a causeway was, in 1660, appointed to be laid between the
Grammar School Wynd and the head of the town's rigs;^
and a prolongation of this causeway southwards marks a
commencement with the formation of Candleriggs Street,
though it was probably not opened throughout till about
60 years later. At first Trongate had to be reached by a
passage through the fleshmarket. In 1661 a candlemaker,
who had premises at the north end of the rig, complained
that the fleshers " maliciouslie closed the mercat yetis,"
and would not suffer him to pass through. The Town
Council thereupon directed that the gates of the market
should always stand open from morning till evening for
affording free passage not only to the candlemakers but also
to the inhabitants in general.^
Other industries were likewise commenced and carried
on in this locality. According to M'Ure, who gives a
glowing account of the enterprise of the originators, soap-
making was started in Glasgow in 1667, though it was not
till 1673 that the company of soapmakers obtained from
the Town Council a site for their works at the head of
^Glasg. Rec. ii. p. 401. "^ lb. p. 436. ^ lb. p. 461.
86 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
Candleriggs.^ Sugar-making was introduced about the same
time. In 1675 the Town Council sold to a company of
merchants a piece of ground at the back of the fleshmarket,
on which ground the purchasers erected " a great building
for the making of sugar commonly called a manufactory or
sugar work." This work, situated on the east side of
Candleriggs Street and south side of Bell's Wynd, was
designated the Wester Sugarhouse, while a similar work,
placed a short distance to the east, was named the North
Sugarhouse. Both works were, in 168 1, accorded the
statutory privileges enjoyed by manufactories, by an Act of
Parliament, in which it is stated that *' the saids tuo works
are now brought to that perfection that they are able and
doe sell the suggar at a third part cheaper than the same
can be imported from abroad, by which many people are
keept at work, and a great stock of money, which used to
be exported, keeped within the kingdom." ^
In consequence of these business extensions it was found
that the old accesses by Grammar School Wynd and through
the fleshmarket were insufficient, and a new and commodious
thoroughfare had to be provided. In 1676 the Town Council
purchased front and back properties on the west side of
High Street, through which it was their intention to make
" ane commoune streit, lane or vennell." One of the pro-
perties was acquired from James Bell of Provosthaugh, who
retained a front tenement bordering on the new street.
There appears to be little doubt that Bell's Wynd, as the
new street was subsequently called, got its name from this
proprietor, and not, as some have conjectured, from Sir
John Bell, who was Provost of Glasgow in 1674-5 and
^Glasg. Rec iii. pp. 173, 175 ; M'Ure, p. 227.
^Glasg. Rec. iii. pp. 197, 204, 271 ; Glasg. Chart, ii. p 215.
NELSON STREET AND LONGCROFT 87
1678-81. In the conveyance of an adjoining piece of land,
in 1680, it is narrated, with reference to the former pur-
chases of property from James Bell and others, that the
Magistrates and Council " hes dimolisched the samyne and
now made thairof ane commone vennell or wynd passing
fra the Hie Streit to the new streit in Candlerig." As was
usual at that time with entrances to the city, means were
provided for the new street being closed when necessary,
and " the bigging of a port at the new vennell " was arranged
in 1678.1 Writing in 1736, M'Ure says: "Bells Wynd
hath a noble gate and entry of curious workmanship that
excels all others in the city. The wynd stretches west from
the Kirk Street (High Street), and is of length 220 ells,
and 10 ells wide. In it is the mutton market."'^ This
market, otherwise called the land market, was the place set
apart for the landward or country fleshers, who on certain
days were allowed to transact business within the city. After
the King Street markets were opened in 1755 ^^^ -^^^^ Street
market was closed for a few years, but business was eventually
resumed and the market continued there till about the
year 1850 when the site was acquired for an extension of
the Central Police Office.^ Since the new premises in St.
Andrew's Square were occupied by the Police in 1906, the
Bell Street site has been appropriated for Bazaar extension.
There was no public slaughter-house in Glasgow previous
to 1744, and when the fleshm.arket adjoined Trongate that
street was used for slaughtering purposes. A Council minute,
dated 20th September, 1666, sets forth that it had been
the custom of the fleshers to slay animals on both sides
of Trongate, which custom " is verie lothsome to the
1 Glasg. Rec. ili. pp. 194, 260, 503 ; Glasg. Chart, ii. pp. 367-8.
^M'Ure, p. 130. ^Past and Present, i. p. 24; ii. p. 96-9.
88 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
beholders, and also raises ane filthle and noysome stink
and flew to all maner of persons that passeth that way
throu the King's hie streit, and is maist unseimlie to be
sein." As a remedy, the Town Council commanded all
fleshers to provide houses in their own premises for slaughter-
ing their cattle, " as is done in Edinburgh and uther weill
governed cities," under a penalty of ;^ioo Scots. ^ Slaughter-
houses at Skinner's Green, where the Molendinar Burn
joins the Clyde, were erected in 1744, and about ten years
later eligible new markets for the sale of butcher meat
were opened in King Street.
Between the Mutton market and the Soapwork the town
owned a piece of ground which for some time lay unpro-
ductive. In 1697 the Town Council took into consideration
that this area " hes lyen long waste and useless, and that
as this citie wants a bowling green, which were necessary
for the ornament of the town and good and convenience
of the inhabitants thereof and of strangeris that resort
thereto, so they judge the said voyd ground to be a fitt
and convenient place for that effect." At first it was
proposed that buildings should be erected along both
Candleriggs and Bell's Wynd ; and Mungo Cochrane,
merchant, undertook to carry out the scheme, to pay
£^0 Scots of ground rent, " to make a sufficient bowling
green, in a decent and sufficient manner, upon the eist
syde of the said ground, consisting in breadth and length
of ane hundreth and fiftie foot square, and to build a
sufficient stone dyke about the said green, two ells and
a half high at leist ; " and he and his successors were to
maintain the green of the same *' sufficiencie, decencie and
measure " in all time coming. Subsequently the obligation
^G/asg. Rec. iii. p. 85.
NELSON STREET AND LONGCROFT 89
to build on the Candleriggs front was departed from, the
bowling green was to " run square in a line with the west
syde of the soaperie dyk," and the feu duty was restricted
to £^ Scots in consideration of Cochrane " beautifying and
decoreing of that place by building the whole front upon
Bell's Wynd, from the gavell of the mutton mercat to the
angle over against the corner of the suggarie, with regular
stone housses and sclait ruifes, all uniforme."^ A title
deed of 1748 refers to an adjoining building as a "litle
laigh house where bowllis and jackis lye."
The green, occupying the space between what is now
the City Hall and the buildings in Bell's Wynd, was duly
formed and was maintained by successive individual owners
till reacquired by the Corporation in the beginning of last
century. An Act of Parliament passed in 1793 empowered
the Town Council to negotiate for the purchase of the
bowling green as a site for the new church to be erected in
lieu of the Tron Church, recently destroyed by fire, or to
be used for any other public purpose. Tron Church was,
however, erected on its former site and the bowling green
was kept up till the year 18 17, when the Town Council
got possession, and erected on it the nucleus of that Bazaar
which, with its various extensions, was transferred from
the Common Good to the Markets Department in June,
1906.
Owing to legal obstacles the green could only be got
on lease at first ; but further statutory authority having
been obtained in 1825, and other difficulties having been
arranged, the community became absolute proprietors a few
years afterwards. In its latter days the bowling green, as
described by a contemporary writer, had ceased to be
1 MS. Council Record.
90 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
attractive. " Admission," says Senex, " was given to any
person, upon payment of one penny ; but in the course
of time the smoke of the city prevented the grass from
growing, and it then became useless as a place of sport.
About 1780 there was a deep and broad ditch extending
along the whole front of the bowling green. This ditch
was never cleaned, and was about two feet deep of thick
glar, in which innumerable maggots with tails made a
prominent figure. The children, for amusement, used to
step into this receptacle of black glar with their bare legs,
and when they came out of it they perambulated the street
in sport, having on what they called a pair of boots ! " ^
Cleland says that after the closing of the Candleriggs
bowling green there were still other three for the accom-
modation of the public, viz., St, Crispin's Place, Kirk Street;
Sauchiehall Road, and Hutchesontown. Though not
identified by the name of St. Crispin's Place, the first of
these bowling greens was probably that which is shown
on a plan of 1826 as lying a little east of High Street, on
the grounds formerly attached to the Duke of Montrose's
mansion in Drygate. The second was situated on William
Harley's ground, midway between Blythswood Square and
Sauchiehall Street, but the Hutchesontown green is not
laid down on the plan.
As shown on M Arthur's plan of 1778, the Quakers had
a meeting house and ground on a site now partly occupied
by South Albion Street, at the corner of Stirling Street.
This was not the first of their meeting houses in Glasgow
traced in the records. On 7th August, 1730, John Purdon,
tailor in Glasgow, conveyed a property on the east side
of High Street to " William Miller, Jr., merchant in the
"^ Past and Present, ii. pp. 27, 28.
NELSON STREET AND LONGCROFT 91
abbey of Hollyrudhouse, and Charles Ormiston, Jr., merchant
in Kelso, for themselves and in name and behalf of their
brethren, the people commonly called Quakers, for a meeting
house, for the exercise of their worship, and, failing them
by decease, to any persons whom the quarterly meeting
of the said people and brethren at Edinburgh shall nominate
and appoint as their successors and administrators to manage
and oversee the said meeting house and others." The
property, described as the east half of the nether part of
a tenement belonging to John Purdon, and the east equal
half of a yard, was bounded on the west by the fore
tenement of James Locheid and on the east by the Molen-
dinar Burn.^ One Lochead is set down on the plan of
1778 as owner of property on the north side of Old Wynd,
and it is not unlikely that the meeting house was there.
The other meeting house above referred to was acquired
in 1 75 1 from William Stirling, merchant, and was conveyed
to " Charles Ormiston, merchant in Kelso, William Miller,
elder, and William Miller, younger, seedsmen, near the
abbey of Holyroodhouse, whom failing to any persons
that the quarterly meeting of the people called Quakers,
at Edinburgh, or where it shall happen then to be for the
time, shall nominate and appoint." The property consisted
of a " long room, lying at the foot or westmost end of
the garden belonging to William Stirling, stone built and
sclate roofed, 60 feet in length and 26 feet in breadth";
with ground 25 feet in breadth along the east side, and a
little room, 14 feet square, attached to the north gable
of the long room and built of brick and slate roofed.
There was also a piece of ground on the north, between
nine and ten yards in breadth, running in length as far as
^MS. Sasine Reg. 6th July, 1731, p. 189.
92
GLASGOW MEMORIALS
" the high street commonly called Grammar School Wynd."
It was provided that the long room and little room were
" only to be used by the said people called Quakers as a
place of meeting for the worship of God, and that no
THE VIRGINIA MANSION.
dwelling houses are to be built by them on any part of
the said grounds ; without prejudice allwayes to themselves
to build a larger meeting house thereon, or to enlarge the
now intended meeting house as far as their ground will
permit, and to put their ground to all other lawful uses,"
and permission was also given to build on ground adjoining
NELSON STREET AND LONGCROFT 93
FRONT VIEW OF HUTCHESONS' HOSPITAL, TRONGATE.
PN.-^
iP'illli'i^f^'liil if III j
, <'^^
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BACK VIEW OF HUTCHESONS HOSPITAL, TRONGATE.
94 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
the Wynd.^ It is said that the meeting house was occupied
as such till the year 1791, and that part of the adjoining
ground was laid out as a burial place. ^ Cleland remarks
that the ground was sold by the Friends on the express
condition that the remains of those interred in it should
not be disturbed ; and he adds that in the interval between
their leaving Stirling Street and entering into possession of
their large meeting house in Portland Street, in 18 16, the
Friends met in an apartment rented for the purpose.^
Before the end of the eighteenth century Longcroft was
fully traversed by streets. Virginia Street, laid out by
Provost Andrew Buchanan, a merchant who imported
tobacco from Virginia, was opened in 1753. John Miller
of Westerton, owner of a malt kiln and barn in Trongate,
with rigs of land at the back, converted the property into
building ground, and formed Miller Street in 1773. The
old Cow Lone, separating Longcroft from that other croft,
the name of which, with its many variations from Palyhard
to Pallioun, has long puzzled archaeologists, was trans-
formed into the widened Queen Street (named after Queen
Charlotte) in 1766. Hutchesons' Hospital, built in 1641-50,
was sold in 1795, and about the same time Hutcheson
Street, partially formed through the grounds a few years
earlier, was completed. Glassford Street, passing through the
Shawfield Mansion, of malt-tax riot fame, was opened in
1793.* Brunswick Street and Wilson Street originated in
1790. In that year the Town Council sold to Robert
Smith, an enterprising builder, a considerable area of ground
situated to the west of Candleriggs Street, and on the south
^ MS. Sasifie Reg. 9th Nov. 1751, p. 118.
2 G/asg. Arch. Transactions, v. pp. 109-10.
^ Jnnals, p. 139. ^ Past and Present, iii. pp. 606-39.
NELSON STREET AND LONGCROFT 95
96
GLASGOW MEMORIALS
side of the " common loan called School Wynd," which by
that time had got the name of Ingram Street, though
S
THE SHAWFIELD MANSION.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
West Port.
The Shawfield Mansion.
Garden behind.
Door in Wall.
Back Cow Lone, now
Ingram Street.
F.
G.
H.
I.I.
J. K. L. M.
The Stockwell.
Westergait.
Trongait.
Old Garden Wall.
Old Houses.
The Dotted Lines show the modern Glassford Street.
the original designation still appeared in title deeds. Under
the conveyance, granted by the Town Council, the purchaser
NELSON STREET AND LONGCROFT 97
was bound to open through his property a public street, 70
feet wide, " from Ingram Street, in Ramshorn grounds, to
Trongate, to be named Brunswick Street " ; and also a
cross street, not less than 40 feet in width, from Candleriggs
Street, to Hutcheson Street, to be " named in all time to
come Wilson Street, in honour of the name, and to perpe-
tuate the memory of George Wilson, of Welleclose Square,
in the county of Middlesex, gentleman, the munificent
founder of a charity school, for the purpose of educating,
in Glasgow, poor boys, and for defraying the expenses of
clothing them and providing them in books." ^
0
^MS. Chartulai"^^ xxiii, pp. 43, 254.
VII.
THE BARONY AND REGALITY OF GLASGOW
IT was not altogether through the liberality of the Scottish
Kings that the Bishops of Glasgow came into possession
of their extensive territory, though it has to be acknowledged
that the preservation of the traditional property of the Church
was largely owing to the fostering care of Royalty. So far
as can be ascertained, the lands throughout Cumbria which,
by inquest of the old and wise men of that district, were
found to belong to the See of Glasgow, in 1 1 1 6,^ had not
previously been vested in the Crown. Additions, however,
were speedily procured from that source. The lands of
" Perdeyc," which King David, in 1136, bestowed on the
Church of St. Kentigern, had formerly been part of the
royal domain, and was then possessed by the Archdeacon of
Glasgow for payment of the nominal rent of a silver mark
yearly.^ Govan, consisting probably of that part of the
modern parish situated south of the Clyde, had been the
site of an ancient monastery, but in David's time it was
treated as Crown territory, and was likewise bestowed by
that King on the Church.^ Substantial rents, consisting of
a share of the annual produce or stock, called chan or can,
were usually taken from lands held of the Crown, and
^ Reg. Episc. No. I. '^ lb. No. 3. ^ lb. Nos. 6, 7.
THE BARONY OF GLASGOW
99
these were sometimes used for support of the King
and his retinue in their progresses through the country.
An interesting allusion to this practice appears in a charter
SEAL OF JOCELINE, A.D. II75-99.
SEAL OF FLORENCE, A.D. 1202-7.
COUNTER SEAL OF JOCELINE.
COUNTER SEAL OF FLORENCE.
whereby King David gave to the Church of Glasgow the
tenth of his " chan " of the cattle and swine in Strathgrif,
Cunningham, Kyle, and Carrick, unless in any year he
lOO
GLASGOW MEMORIALS
should go to the lands and consume his " chan." ^ But
no such exactions were stipulated for in grants of lands
to the Church. Even the Archdeacon's silver mark was
dispensed with, and Partick and Govan were held of the
King in pure alms. Charters by William the Lion specify
SEAL OF WALTER, A.D. 1208-32.
COUNTER SEAL OF WALTER.
Badlayn, Conclud, Cader, and Badermonoch, but it is
uncertain whether these were new grants or merely con-
firmations of old possessions under varying names. The
original lands in Glasgow and its vicinity, combined with
Partick and Govan and possible additions during William's
reign, composed the district latterly known as the Barony
and Regality. This territory was practically co-extensive
^ Reg. Episc. No. 9.
THE BARONY OF GLASGOW
lOI
with the existing parishes of Glasgow, Govan, Cadder, and
part of Old Monkland, and made up a total area of about
45,000 Imperial acres. ^ Over this extensive estate, one of
several owned by them in Cumbria, the Bishops ruled with
almost unlimited sway. It is known that as early as the
SEAL OF WILLIAM DK BONDINGTON,
A.D. 1233-58.
COUNTER SEAL OF WILLIAM DE BONDINGTON.
reign of Alexander I. Churchmen were empowered to hold
Courts within their own lands free from the authority of
other jurisdictions, and it is probable that the Bishops of
Glasgow, who, besides exercising their spiritual functions,
usually took a prominent part in State affairs, enjoyed
similar control. A charter by Alexander II., in 1241, con-
firmed to Bishop William the land around Glasgow to be
^ Regality Club, iv. pp. 141 et seq.
I02
GLASGOW MEMORIALS
held in free forest,^ a grant analogous to that of a barony ;
but this may have been only a ratification of existing
privileges, and not the bestowal of a new jurisdiction.
.^^
SEAL OF ROBERT WISHART, A.D. 1272-1316.
(No. I.)
SEAL OF ROBERT WISHART, A.D. 1272-I316.
(No. 2.)
In early times the lords of regahties, in their subsidiary
spheres, imitated the example of the Sovereign in the
conduct of national affairs, and it was accordingly only
natural that in the century which is specially associated
with the rise of royal burghs in Scotland a similar organi-
sation should be formed on the bishop's domain. No charter
1 Reg. Episc. No. 1 80.
THE BARONY OF GLASGOW
103
in favour of a royal burgh, either original or in transcript,
is extant of an earlier date than King William's reign, though
it is known that several burghs originated in David's time.
The explanation seems to be that burghs existed and had
been in working order for some time before their constitu-
tion was formulated in writing. Royal burghs were situated
SEAL OF JOHN WISHART, A.D. I319-25.
(No. I.)
SEAL OF JOHN WISHART, A.D. 1319-25.
(No. 2.)
on the Sovereign's own land, and his bailies simply allocated
among the primitive burgesses their several holdings under
burden of specified fermes or rents, which were collected
and paid into the royal Treasury. Forming the market
centre of the surrounding district, which usually developed
into a shire, a burgh monopolised such commerce as
was going, and gradually attracted a community of dealers
and artisans, the merchants and craftsmen of the future
I04
GLASGOW MEMORIALS
incorporations and guilds. The code known as Leges
Burgorum^ assigned to the first half of the twelfth century,
was evidently compiled after experience had been gained in
actual administration, and when, at a later period, charters
came into repute, these burgh laws supplied material for
their provisions.
SEAL OF WALTER WAKDLAW,
A.D. 1368-89.
SEAL OF WILLIAM LAUDER,
A.D. 1408-25.
The bishop's burgh of Glasgow was formed on the model
of the royal burghs, and, following the earlier practice, got no
written constitution. True it is that Bishop Joceline, perhaps
to avoid complications with the royal burgh of Rutherglen,
the jurisdiction of which, so far as can be gathered from the
rather vague contents of its early charters, may have extended
beyond Glasgow, obtained King William's authority to have
a burgh ; but the burgh itself seems to have been set agoing
--I s
u^ .^
H
<;
cr:
^
---
>J
U
!^
<;
O
S
^
H
•^
i:i
\i
<
•^
PL,
■^^
'^
THE BARONY OF GLASGOW
105
by the simple process of appointment of bailies and appor-
tionment of dwellings and tofts among the burgesses for
payment of rents or fermes as in royal burghs, though these
were, of course, collected not for the King, but for the
bishop. In royal burghs grants from such revenues were
sometimes given by the Sovereign for religious services, and
it may be noted that Bishop Cameron (1426-46) founded a
requiem mass for the weal of the bishops' souls, to be
celebrated at the high altar of the Cathedral by the vicars
SEAL OF JOHN CAMERON, A.D. 1426-46. SEAL OF ANDREW MUIRHEAD, A.D. I455-73.
of the choir, to whom in recompense he assigned i8 merks
yearly from the fermes of the burgh .^
Market privileges, including the collection of customs,
were secured by King William's charter, and additional
protection was obtained from his successor (1226) when the
bailies of Rutherglen were forbidden to exact toll nearer
the new burgh than Shettleston Cross.^ By a subsequent
precept (1449-50) addressed to the communities of Renfrew
and Rutherglen, it was commanded " that nan of yhour
said burrows, na nane utheris, cum wythin the baronry of
Glasgow, na within ony landis portenand to Sant Mungo's
1 Reg. Episc. p. cii. 2 Qlasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. p. 1 2.
io6
GLASGOW MEMORIALS
fredome, to tak tol or custum, be watter or land, of ony
personis cummand or gangand to the said mercat."-^ The
burgh was the market place for the barony, and all customs
exacted throughout its bounds pertained to the bishop. In
1450, after the experience of three centuries, the jurisdiction
of the bishop was formulated in a charter granted by King
James II. to Bishop Turnbull, whereby the barony, together
with lands called Bishopforest, lying in the stewartry of Kirk-
cudbright, were erected into a regality.^ A more elaborate
SEAL OF JOHN LAING, A.D. 1474-82.
confirmation was procured from James III. in 1476, and as
an example of the practice of embodying in charters the
sanction of existing privileges under the form of a new grant,
it may be mentioned that here for the first time is contained
a power to elect a provost of the burgh, though that
privilege had been exercised at least as early as 1453. The
official for executing the bishop's precepts throughout the
regality is described as " a serjeant or officer who shall
carry a silver mace or wand, with the royal arms on the
upper end and the arms of the bishop on the lower end."^
^ G/asg. Chart, i. pt. li. p. 28. "^ lb. pp. 28-31. ^ lb. pp. 60-5.
THE BARONY OF GLASGOW 107
Before the institution of the Justiciar it is understood that
the Scottish Kings administered justice in person. Possibly
SEAL OF ROBERT BLACKADER, A.D. 1484-1508.
(No. I.)
SEAL OF ROBERT BLACKADER, A.D. 15OO.
(No. 2.)
the bishops of Glasgow at one time acted similarly, but
from a very early period the administration of justice
io8 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
throughout the barony and regality was entrusted to a bailie
and his deputies. In the sixteenth century the Earls of
Lennox successfully claimed a heritable right to the office of
principal bailie, but it is not known how or when the
privilege was originally conferred. The bailiary, then held
by the Duke of Montrose, came to an end on the abolition
of heritable jurisdictions in 1748.
Though anything like full knowledge regarding the con-
dition of the soil and its occupiers in the twelfth century
is not now procurable, it may be surmised that, even in the
most favoured localities, cultivation was crude and partial,
and that the bulk of the land, through the prevalence of
bog or marsh and uncleared forest, was unsuitable for crops
and not particularly well adapted for pasturage. It is like-
wise believed that many of those who lived by tilling the
ground were in a condition of serfdom. As an illustration
of this it is on record that King William (1174-89) trans-
ferred to Bishop JoceHne " Gillemachoi of Conclud, with
all his children and descendants."^ Natives or Neyfs was
the legal name of such bondsmen, and grants of baronies
frequently contain a clause " cum nativis " or " cum
hominibus," signifying the original inhabitants or their
descendants who were transferable by sale or gift along
with the soil which they cultivated. In Glasgow charters
dated previous to 1235 the burgesses only are referred to
as possessed of trading privileges, but by a charter dated
in that year Alexander II. ordained that the bishop's men,
natives and servants (homines^ nativi et servi) should be
quit of paying toll for their own goods throughout the
whole kingdom as well within as without burghs.^ Seven
years afterwards the same King authorised the bishop's
1 Reg. Episc. No. 34. "^ R^g- Glasg. i. pt. ii. pp. 13, 14.
THE BARONY OF GLASGOW
109
" burgesses and men of Glasgu " to go into Argyle and
Lennox, and throughout the whole kingdom, for the purpose
of buying and selling at their pleasure.^ Churchmen have
SEAL OF GAVIN DUNBAR, A.D. 1524-27.
COUNTER SEAL OF GAVIN DUNBAR.
been credited with doing much for the emancipation of the
serf, and there is reason to believe that the natives of
Glasgow barony, whatever may have been their condition
in the twelfth century, had not long to wait for the
^ Reg. Glasg. i. p. ii. pp. 14, 15.
no GLASGOW MEMORIALS
enjoyment of freedom, and that it was their descendants,
who, as rentallers, became the practical owners of the soil,
subject to the payment of rent and performance of services
to their overlord.
Before referring more particularly to the rentallers, notice
may be taken of the more important of those portions of
the barony lands which were severed from the bishopric.
The burgesses of Glasgow, in addition to their dwellings
and crofts in and close by the town, had assigned to them,
in conformity with the example set in royal burghs, large
tracts of land, such as the Easter and Wester Commons
and Gallowmuir, for pasturage of cattle and supply of fuel.
The areas thus appropriated comprise what is now known
as the ancient royalty or burgage portion of the municipality.
Then some of the Cathedral dignitaries held landed endow-
ments throughout the barony. It has been mentioned that
the archdeacon possessed Partick before it was transferred to
the bishop, but his successors do not appear as landowners
in the barony. The lands of Barlanark or Provand were
held as the prebend of a canon of the Cathedral. The
subdean had large possessions, consisting of Provanside and
Deanside, with the bailiary jurisdiction attached thereto, as
well as the lands of Westercraigs and the adjacent mills
and kilns on the left bank of the Molendinar Burn.
Eastercraigs belonged to the treasurer; the parson of
Erskine had the lands of Blythswood ; and various fields
were set aside as endowments of the parsonage of Glasgow.
A substantial alienation was made in or before 1408, when
Bishop Mathew Glendoning, with consent of his chapter,
granted the lands of Cadder to his " beloved vassal,
William of Strivelyne, son and heir of the late Sir John of
Strivelyne, Knight," for payment of ^a^ yearly, the vassal
THK HAUONV OK CJl ASiiOW
I I I
giving suit ii\ the h.iroMV courts, aiul hc\u\\ li.il>lr fof \\.\\\\.
relict', aiul other usual services.'
Detailed intorniatiou regarding the rentallers is uot e\(ai\(
of an earlier dati- than tlie hegii\t\iug ol (he sixteenth
bli.Al. Ill' |AMI,:. IHi.A'HiH, A.I> I 1,1,1 liii
^^„ii0fltfarii\n«^^
(:(»UN'\tt.H Mi.AI, Ol' )AMI/,f> llltA'IOH
century. The Diocesan Kcgistcrs, jiuhh-.lir.l hy ih»- (.i.un
pian Clul), contain a scries of r(;nlal'> ('')"')'/''), 'h'' iirA
of which is descrihed as the "r(iii;d of ihr hkci ovtirjid
father in Christ, James, archhishoj) ol (il;r,;'ow, Ikj^moi .)ih
Septemher, 1509, in the fir-J year of ln*> « onnecration."
' ///;/. M:JS. Com. Repmtf x. K\,\n \. \>. (>/..
112 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
The opening entry records that Thomas Steven is " rentalit
in X s. X d. worth of land of Auchinarne, be the consent
of Margret Myllar, wedow; he has mareit the said wedow,
and she is content he suld be rentaHt ; he suld pay
X merk."^ If a rentaller left a widow she retained his
holding during viduity, but on re-marriage she forfeited
her right, though it might be, and usually was, renewed
to her with consent of the bishop. In the case quoted
the new husband was accepted as rentaller on payment of
a sum of money such as was commonly exacted on the
occasion of a transfer. As heirs succeeded to rental rights
at fixed rents, and as these rights were transmissible by
sale, the rentallers were much in the position of ordinary
landowners. Though the rental book narrates the several
transmissions, it does not specify the yearly rents payable
to the bishops, and such information requires to be looked
for elsewhere. In compliance with the order for a return
showing the value of ecclesiastical benefices, the revenues
of the archbishop's temporalities throughout the whole
diocese, consisting of seven baronies, Bishopforest, and
"other little things" were given up in 1561 at the following
figures (omitting fractions) — ^^9^7 in money, 32 chalders
meal, 28 chalders malt, 8 bolls bear, 12 chalders horse corn,
and 14 dozen salmon.^ This summary does not distinguish
between the respective baronies, but the Regality Club
have printed in abstract a rental of the temporalities in the
barony of Glasgow, supposed to have been compiled within
a few years after the passing of the act of parliament of
1587, annexing the temporaHties of benefices to the Crown.^
'^ Dioc. Reg. i. p. 41. '^ lb. p. 23.
3 Vol. iv. pp. 158-69. Money, ^^398; 22 chalders malt, 13 chalders
horse corn, 27 chalders oatmeal, 13^ dozen salmon, 45 dozen capons and
30 dozen poultry.
A
THE BARONY OF GLASGOW
^13
It is a prevalent opinion tliat the temporalities were
dilapidated by the prelates who were in possession subsequent
SEAL OF JAMES BOYD, A.D. 1572-81.
COUNTER SEAL OF JAMES BOYD.
to the Reformation, but this view is not supported by-
ascertained facts. In accordance with law and practice, the
bishops converted many of the rental rights into feu holdings,
but the annual revenues were not thereby impaired, and in
H
114 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
some cases they were augmented. When Archbishop Law
died his executors gave up an inventory of his estate, thus
affording the means of contrasting the income of 1632 with
that of other periods. The inventory included £2S9 ^^ ^^^
money rental, and the following duties in kind, all payable
by the feuars, tenants, and possessors in Glasgow barony, viz.,
23 chalders malt, 36 chalders meal, 11 chalders corn, i^^
dozen salmon, 38|- dozen capons, and 30 dozen poultry.
The total money value of Glasgow barony alone was £6^1"]
Scots, or £SS9 sterling, yearly.^ Another rental, undated,
but supposed to belong to the latter half of the seventeenth
century, gives a detailed list of 301 feuars in Glasgow
barony paying yearly sums amounting in whole to figures
slightly in advance of those in Archbishop Law's inventory.^
It is therefore obvious that, however the income may have
been disposed of by the post-Reformation bishops during
their respective incumbencies, the stock was transmitted to
their successors practically intact.
Archbishop Betoun drew the temporality revenues for
about seven years subsequent to his departure from Glasgow
at the Reformation. In 1568 the rents were assigned to
nominees of the Crown, and between 1571 or 1573 and
1587 the Protestant archbishops were in possession. During
the latter period several of the rental rights were converted
into feu holdings, the feu-duties being made equivalent to
the former rents. Under the operation of the Act of 1587
above referred to, the barony revenues were at the King's
disposal, and were conferred on Walter Steward, usually
styled Commendator of Blantyre on account of that priory
being held by him. Steward paid to the Crown an over
^Lanark and Rerifrezv, p. 149.
2 MS. Reports in Town Clerk's Office, 1794- 18 14, pp. 66-108.
THE BARONY OF GLASGOW
115
feu-duty of ^^500, and he was specially empowered to
continue the practice of sub-feuing the lands to the old
rentallers.^ Under some arrangement, the particulars of
SEAL OF WILLIAM ERSKINE, A.D. 1585-7.
COUNTER SEAL OF WILLIAM ERSKINE.
which are not disclosed, the Duke of Lennox had acquired
the superiority of the lands in 1593; but before three years
elapsed both Commendator and Duke surrendered their
rights to the Crown. These proceedings turned out to
^ G/asg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 215-25.
ii6 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
be the prelude to a pleasing incident. In the early days
of the Reformation Archbishop Betoun had left Glasgow
to escape the wild fury of the " rascal multitude," and,
throughout all these years of trouble and change in his
native country, had faithfully represented his Sovereigns,
Queen Mary and King James, as their Ambassador in
France. He had now grown old in service, and it was
thought becoming that for the remaining years of his life
he should be reinstated in the " heretages, honours, benefices,
and lands " of which he had been deprived for adherence
to the proscribed religion. In June, 1598, accordingly, the
King and Parliament restored the aged Prelate to the
enjoyment of his former possessions, but under such necessary
reservations as feuars' rights, ministers' stipends, the Castle
of Glasgow, and right of choosing the magistrates.^ The
Archbishop survived his restoration five years, and at the
end of that period the Duke of Lennox got a charter of
the whole lands throughout the diocese, in return for
which he had to pay feu-duties to the Crown which must
have practically absorbed the annual revenues. For the
Barony of Glasgow the feu-duty consisted of ^^304 in
money, 36 chalders meal, 31 chalders barley, 13 chalders
oats, 49 dozen capons, 31 dozen poultry, and 14 dozen
salmon.2 Any pecuniary advantage to the Duke came,
perhaps, from entry-money of vassals, fees of the Regality
Court, and other perquisites. But this arrangement did
not last long, in consequence of the restitution of bishops
in 1606. That the landowners in the barony at this time
were numerous and not over-wealthy may be gathered
from the terms of the Act of Parliament whereby the
bishops were again vested in the property of which they
^ G/asg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 250-2. "^ lb. pp. 258-69.
THE BARONY OF GLASGOW 117
had been deprived in 1587. It is there set forth that the
King and his Estates " having considerit the fewaris of
the Baronie of Glasgow to be mony in number, and the
povertie of the maist pairt of thame to be suche as they
are nocht abill to furnesche the ordinarie charges for
renewing thair infeftmentis," ordained that such renewals
should be dispensed with, provided ratifications were timeously
procured from Archbishop Spottiswood.^ During the inter-
ruption to Prelatic supremacy which prevailed between 1639
and 1 66 1, the Duke of Lennox of that time was invested
with the whole lands of the diocese, and that on more
favourable terms than the former Duke enjoyed, as the feu-
duty payable by him was only 200 merks.- The archbishops
were again in possession between 1661 and 1689, but since
the latter date the Episcopal revenues of Glasgow Barony
have been collected for the Crown.
^ Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 272-7. ^ lb. pp. 403-10.
VIII.
THE COUNTY AND PARISH DIVISIONS OF
GLASGOV^
WITH the advent of County and Parish Councils the
simplification of administrative areas was one of
the first objects requiring attention. The Boundaries Com-
missioners appointed under the Local Government Act of
1889 found that out of the 33 Scottish shires no fewer
than 13 had detached parts (25 in number) within the
bounds of other counties, and that there were 219 detached
parts belonging to 134 parishes. Of the parishes, 64 were
situated in more counties than one. Some of these peculi-
arities were owing to conditions regarding which knowledge
is obscure or altogether absent. Growing out of tribal or
other primitive divisions, with vaguely defined boundaries,
the areas under the jurisdiction of the earlier Sheriffs were
not arranged on a uniform plan, and on account of
variations in individual ownership it was often expedient to
transfer lands from one shire to another. Commenting on
the irregularity of shire boundaries the author of Caledonia
remarked that of old the great landowners might have
their property, wherever situated, declared to be within any
county, however distant. Such changes and their causes
deserve the careful attention of local historians.
COUNTY AND PARISH DIVISIONS 119
The institution of sheriffdoms in this country cannot be
traced to an earlier period than the beginning of the twelfth
century, and like many other adaptations of that time, the
system was apparently modelled on English experience.
Before the end of David's reign the new jurisdictions were
in operation throughout the greater part, if not the whole,
of the Cumbrian province which that King had at first
ruled as earl, and it is not improbable that the change
was part of one great movement, embracing the establish-
ment of royal burghs, as well as the reorganisation of the
Church. What was done in connection with the reconstituted
bishopric is outlined in the well-known " Inquest,"^ but
there is scarcely any contemporary information procurable
regarding the other changes. It is not till the reign of
David's successor that the first Sheriff of Lanark, Baldwin
of Biggar, appears on record, and the extent of his juris-
diction is uncertain. 2 The term " shire," literally meaning
a division, was sometimes applied to small districts, such
as parishes. An early law applicable to royal burghs, and
frequently embodied in individual charters, conferred on
burghal communities exclusive market privileges throughout
their respective shires ; and in consequence of this arrange-
ment the bailies, who were originally King's officers, collected
the Crown duties and customs on merchandise, and accounted
to the great chamberlain for the proceeds. In David's reign
Rutherglen had been made a royal burgh, and the district
over which its privileges extended probably embraced a
considerable portion of the area now represented by the
Lower Ward of Lanarkshire. It is on record that King
David erected the burgh of Renfrew on his own domain,
1 Reg. Episc. No. i ; Scots Lore, p. 36.
^Caledonia, iii. p. 574; Reg. de Neubotle, pp. xxxvi, 122-3.
I20 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
and having thus been a royal burgh before becoming the
chief town of the barony, bestowed by King David on
Walter, son of Alan, it was likewise the centre of a
privileged district.^ As shown by a Crown charter in 1397,
the burgh bailies collected custom dues throughout the
barony,^ with the exception latterly of the territory of the
monks of Paisley. This right of exemption was maintained
in 1493, when the magistrates of Renfrew complained that
the abbot's bailies had defrauded the King of his customs
and the burgh of its privileges, inasmuch as they had taken
from the burgh officials certain goods seized in the town
of Paisley in security of custom dues, viz. " a quarter of
beif takin for a penny custom ; a cabok of cheis takin for
a halfpenny of custom ; a wynd of quhite claith for a
penny of custom." The Lords before whom the complaint
was heard decided in favour of the abbot, holding that
though Renfrew was privileged within the burgh and
barony, the town and lands of Paisley had been created a
free barony and regality under a charter prior in date to
any which the complainers could then produce.^ Rutherglen
was, perhaps, similarly deprived of part of its privileges
when the barony and regality of Glasgow was bestowed on
the bishop and a burgh established within its bounds.
Lanark, the only other royal burgh in Clydesdale, may
date as far back as Rutherglen or Renfrew, though there
is lack of documentary evidence to that effect. *' Willelmus
prefectus de Lanharc " was a contemporary of Baldwin of
Biggar. A charter by King Alexander III., confirmatory of
privileges previously existing, gave the burgesses of Lanark
a monopoly of trade throughout the "sheriffdom,"* but
^ Origines Parochiaks, i. pp. 74-75. ^Lanark and Renfrew, p. 281.
^ Acta Auditorum, p. 176. ^Lanark Charters, p. 308.
HokKAI.S KR().M SOUTH END OF THK liKlUGK.
frolic IVater Colour by Williain Simpson.
COUNTY AND PARISH DIVISIONS 121
keeping in view the privileges possessed by Rutherglen,
Renfrew, and Glasgow, the expression " sheriffdom " could
scarcely in that instance be applicable to a district more
extensive than that which is now known as the Upper
Ward.
Notwithstanding the existence of these subsidiary areas,
it is not improbable that the jurisdiction of Baldwin and
his immediate successors extended over the whole of Clydes-
dale, reaching northward to the earldom of Lennox and
f^^^^'^^'^m^i^.
VIEW OF COURT-HOUSE AT THE GREEN.
the shire of Stirling, and on the east going to the boundary
between Cumbrian and Lothian territory. But considerable
changes must have occurred between that time and the
early years of the fifteenth century when the barony of
Renfrew was erected into a separate sheriffdom, and the
Semples of Elliotson, who had previously acted as hereditary
stewards of the barony, became hereditary sheriffs of the new
shire. From about the fifteenth century till the abolition
of heritable jurisdictions in 1748, the judicial business of
the county of Lanark was administered in three divisions —
viz. the Upper Ward, the Nether Ward, and the Regality
122 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
of Glasgow. In 1748 the functions of the regality bailie
devolved on the sheriff, and since then the three wards —
Upper, Middle, and Lower — have been recognised divisions
for judicial and administrative purposes.
The county boundary of Glasgow Barony was not expressly
altered by the erection of the barony of Renfrew into a shire,
but this result was reached indirectly. Govan Parish had
been part of the bishop's territory from the time of the first
King David, and consequently it could not be affected by
any change in the bordering barony of Renfrew. It happened,
however, that the Maxwells of Pollok, whose main possessions
were in Renfrew Barony, occupied adjoining lands in Govan
Parish as rentallers of the bishops. This occupancy of the
combined lands had subsisted for a long series of years, and
either through inadvertency or design the lands of Haggs,
Titwood, and Shiells, in Govan Parish, came to be regarded
as part of the Pollok estate, and as lying within the county
of Renfrew. This county description occurs in a charter by
the Archbishop in 1581, when the rental right was converted
into a feu holding.^ In the fifteenth century, Renfrew
boundaries were better understood, and an attempt then made
to appropriate Govan did not succeed. Sheriff Semple had
cited the Archbishop as owner of Govan lands, to attend
the "justice are of Renfrew," and fined him for not obeying
the citation. Thereupon the Archbishop appealed to the
Lords of Council, who, on loth June, 1494, found that "the
lands of Govane are ane pendicle of the barony of Glasgu,
for the quhilk the Archibischop of Glasgu aw apperance in
the justice are of Lanark alanerly," and the Sheriff of Renfrew
was ordained not to cite the Archbishop in future. ^ It
therefore seems probable that the appropriation by Renfrew-
^ Reg. Mag. Sig. v. No. 616. ^ Jcta Dominorum Consi/ii, p. 329.
COUNTY AND PARISH DIVISIONS 123
shire of Haggs, Titwood, and Shiells was subsequent to 1494.
By an order of the Boundaries Commissioners, pronounced
in 1892, the greater portion has been restored to Lanarkshire,
though a small slice has been retained by the county of
Renfrew and added to the parish of Eastwood. The municipal
boundaries of the burgh of Renfrew had been extended over
a corner of Govan Parish, and this portion was transferred
to the parish and county of Renfrew.
At the east side of Govan another portion of Lanarkshire
was absorbed by the neighbouring county under rather
peculiar circumstances. Eastward of Titwood and Shiells lay
first the lands of Gorbals, and then those of Little Govan,
which were separated from Rutherglen territory by Polmadie
burn. Gorbals and the west half of Little Govan have always
remained in Lanarkshire. About the year 1320 the bishop
of Glasgow bestowed the east half of Little Govan on the
hospital of Polmadie.^ Either at that time or shortly after
wards the hospital possessed adjoining lands on the south
called Crossbill, understood to be part of Cathcart, and
consequently included in the barony of Renfrew. In or
previous to 1453 the whole lands of Polmadie Hospital
(including the east half of Little Govan, though that name
was dropped and Polmadie adopted) were transferred to
the Collegiate Church of Dumbarton, and they remained
with that Church till the Reformation. In 1564 the Provost
of the Collegiate Church feued to Sir John Stewart of Minto
the combined lands, under the general designation of the
*' five merk lands of Polmadie and Corshill." From the
time when Renfrew was made a shire till the date of this
feu there is no documentary evidence regarding the shire
in which the hospital's lands were situated ; but in the charter
^ Reg. Episc. No. 269.
124 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
of 1564, which was subscribed and sealed at Dumbarton,
the lands are described as lying in the sheriffdom of Renfrew.^
To complete his title, however, the feuar had to appear on
the lands and obtain formal possession in presence of local
witnesses. A local notary, the town-clerk of Glasgow, wrote out
an instrument narrating the ceremony of giving possession,
and here the lands are described as lying within the shire
of Lanark. One of the witnesses was the parish clerk of
Glasgow, and another " John Cochran of Pomade." ^ If
the surmise be correct that Crossbill formed part of Cathcart,
and that the latter was then wholly in the shire of Renfrew^
the lands ought strictly speaking to have been described as
lying in two shires, but at that time apparently there was laxity
in distinguishing the precise boundaries. It has been seen
how Titwood and other lands, possessed by successive lairds
of Pollok, in conjunction with their Renfrewshire estate, had
come to be regarded as part of that county. Similarly
Crossbill and Polmadie, though described in early titles
sometimes as in the one shire and sometimes as in the other,
were eventually assigned to Renfrew. But though there was
want of uniformity in specifying the shire no dubiety seems
to have existed with regard to the parish in which Polmadie
was situated. Continuous parochial supervision in spiritual
concerns, and the regular exaction of parsonage and vicarage
teinds, effectually prevented any misconception on that point.
Crossbill has latterly been acknowledged as part of Cathcart,
^ Glasg. Arch. Soc. Transactions (1889), i. pp. 517-33.
^Glasg. Prot. No. 1504.
^ An Act of Parliament in 1649 refers to "that part of Cathcart Parish
which is in the shire of Renfrew," thus indicating that at that time part of
it was understood to be in Lanarkshire {Glasg. Chart, vol. ii. p. 299,
No. 598).
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COUNTY AND PARISH DIVISIONS 125
but during the time it was conjoined with the more extensive
lands of Polmadie the whole were sometimes described as
lying in the parish of Govan. With the exception of Crossbill
and Langside lands which are portions of Cathcart, a piece
of Richmond Park in Rutherglen parish, and the small area
of Gorbals Parish, all the lands within the municipal boun-
daries of Glasgow, on the south side of the Clyde, are situated
in the parish of Govan. The old village of Gorbals and its
detached burying ground were disjoined from Govan and
formed into a separate parish in 1771.^ Though combined
with the parent parish for poor law purposes in 1873, Gorbals
is still a distinct parish, and in his book describing the work
accomplished by the Boundaries Commissioners, Mr. Hay
Shennan, their secretary, alludes to it as the only parish in
Scotland left with a detached part, its old kirkyard being
surrounded by the parish of Govan. ^
Within the municipal area north of the Clyde the Boundary
Commissioners did not require to interfere. At some points
the city touches without encroaching on Dumbartonshire, and
elsewhere the boundary keeps within the old Glasgow Barony
and shire of Lanark. The parochial divisions here were of
long standing. Govan Parish seems to have extended to
the north side of the river in consequence of the grant by
King David I. to Glasgow Church of the lands of Partick,
which since that time have formed the northern division of
the parish. With the exception of a few acres at Pointhouse,
Govan keeps on the right bank of the Kelvin, a stream
which, for a considerable distance, separates it from the
parish of Glasgow. What is now the municipal area north
of Clyde was originally included within the parishes of Govan
^ Regality Club, iv. pp. 48-49.
'^Boundaries of Counties and Parishes (1892), p. xxvi.
126
GLASGOW MEMORIALS
and Glasgow, but from an early period the latter parish was
divided into two sections for ecclesiastical purposes. Previous
to the Reformation there was a vicar " in burgo " and a
vicar "in rure,"^ while under Presbyterian rule the landward
portion of Glasgow Parish was, about the year 1596, set
apart as a separate pastoral charge. Though there was no
formal disjunction the urban district gradually came to be
PARTICK CASTLE ON THE KELVIN.
recognised for all purposes as the City Parish, and the
remainder as the Barony Parish. The former embraced not
only the dwellings, but also the lands, belonging to burgesses,
either individually or in commonty, and the latter was com-
posed of lands outside of burgh territory, and possessed by
those feuars who had succeeded the rentallers of former
times. The boundary line between the two parishes, in
many places following the crooks of small burns and else-
where denoted by march stones, was extremely irregular,
though sufficiently well known so long as the lands remained
'^Glasg. Prot., No. 1318.
COUNTY AND PARISH DIVISIONS 127
in an agricultural or pastoral condition. But when buildings
and streets extended over the former fields it was frequently
impossible to distinguish the boundary line. Of late years
such difficulties and inconveniences were accumulating, and
at last it became apparent that reunion was the only effective
remedy. In conformity with an order issued by the Secretary
for Scotland in 1898 the City and Barony Parishes were
amalgamated under the designation of the Parish of Glasgow.
In 1893 ^^^ ^^^y o^ Glasgow was constituted a county to
the effect of having its own Lieutenancy and Commission of
the Peace. For other purposes it now forms part of Lanark-
shire, and embraces portions of the parishes of Glasgow,
Govan, Rutherglen, and Cathcart, with the whole of Gorbals.
But while recent changes are effectual for most purposes, it
must be borne in mind that ecclesiastical arrangements and
jurisdictions are not interfered with, and therefore the old
parochial divisions are still of practical significance as well
as historical interest.
IX.
THE COMMON GOOD AND THE EARLY
TERRITORIAL POSSESSIONS OF THE CITY
/^WING to the multiplicity of municipal undertakings
^^ now in hand, the term " Common Good," originally
self-explanatory, does not always convey a definite meaning
to those who are not sufficiently familiar with civic affairs.
Are not, it may be asked, all the lands and funds in the
Town Council's charge held and administered for the benefit
of the community, and why should one section of the city's
assets monopolise the designation which appears to be
applicable to all .'* In one sense it is true that the whole
municipal estate and revenues may be classed as common
good, but this is subject to the limitation that certain portions
can be applied only to specific objects. Thus, the police
assessments must be used only for the purposes defined in
the Police Acts, the parks' revenues, consisting of feu-duties
and rates, are expended solely within that department ; dues
on animals sold in the public market are applied as directed
by the statutes under which the markets are regulated, and
so with regard to each of the other departments which have
been created and continue to be managed under special acts
of Parliament. In Glasgow, as elsewhere, the Common
Good consists of such property and funds as are held by
THE COMMON GOOD 129
the magistrates and council for behoof of the community,
unfettered by any restriction as to its disposal, save con-
formity to common law and the promotion of the public
weal of the burgh.
Though Glasgow was not constituted a royal burgh till it
got a charter from King James in 161 1, its organisation was
framed largely on the model of the royal burghs, the early
laws of which contain provisions regarding the administration
of the Common Good. Thus the Great Chamberlain, while
making his periodic circuit of the burghs, was directed to
inquire " gif there be a just assedation and uptaking of the
Common Gude," if a faithful account thereof was made to
the community, and if the "Common Gude" was bestowed
on the affairs of the burgh. ^ Subsequent legislation proceeded
on similar lines, an act of 1491 directing that the common
good should be expended on the " commoun and necessare
thingis of the burgh," and another act of 1593 enjoining
magistrates of burghs to bestow the revenues on the *' com-
moun affairs thairof allanerlie." Some of the old enactments
are still in force, but require to be interpreted in conjunction
with recent statutes, and in the light of decisions pronounced
by the Supreme Court in the few cases brought before the
lords for legal investigation.
Burghs which came into existence in the twelfth and thirteenth
centuries were endowed with more or less extensive tracts of
land, suitable for cultivation, grazing of live stock, and supply
of fuel. In times antecedent to the development of commerce
the possession of such territory was to many burghs a simple
necessity of existence, as the inhabitants had to procure their
food and clothing in the vicinity of their dwellings, and
through the exercise of their own skill and handiwork. Such
^ Ancient Laws, p. i 20.
I30 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
early concessions were probably accomplished without much
formality. An offhand arrangement between the king's
officers and the burgesses as to which portions of the royal
domain the latter were to occupy would be all that was
necessary. Lands obtained in this way formed the original
Common Good in most burghs ; and though possessed
without any written title by successive generations, the time
eventually arrived when charters were sought and obtained,
and then the lands, enumerated in the parchment, were for-
mally confirmed. Besides these surrounding lands held in
commonty each burgess possessed a dwelling and bit of land
in the burgh for which he paid maill or rent to the king.
Originally such rents were collected from the burgesses by
the king's officers, known as bailies, but in course of time it
became the practice to farm them for a fixed sum payable by
the town's bailies, who thereupon collected the several rents
from the burgesses. Any surplus augmented the Common
Good, which gradually gathered supplies from other sources.
At first the sovereign owned the mills where the burgesses
got their grain ground for payment of certain dues called
multures, but mills also were often assigned to the burgesses
for payment of fixed rents. From an early period the toll
or small custom payable on articles brought to the burgh
market, together with the fines or " issues " of the burgh
court, were farmed in the same manner, one rent usually
covering the whole. Dues payable on the admission of
burgesses formed another source of revenue, an act of
Parliament passed in 1 503 having provided " that the
profitt that is tane for the making of ilk burges or gilde
be put to the common gude and warit on the common
werkis." ^
1 J.P.S. ii. p. 252, c. 31.
THE COMMON GOOD 131
These general rules and practices applicable to the royal
burghs operated in Glasgow though, as has been indicated,
that burgh was held, not of the king but of the bishop.
Within his own territory the bishop exercised regal authority,
deputed to him by the sovereign. The bishop apportioned
his lands according to the method adopted within the royal
domain. The burgesses possessed their town dwellings in
severalty and the outlying lands in commonty, and paid
their " maills " to the bishop, just as the king's burgesses
paid theirs to the king. But there was one notable dis-
tinction between the position of Glasgow and that of the
royal burghs with regard to the common lands. In most
of his burghs the king was only an occasional visitor, and
consequently throughout the greater part of each year his
neighbouring domain was free for occupation by the burgesses,
who thus acquired possessory rights over extensive districts.
Generally the lands connected with royal burghs, and specified
in their charters, were so extensive that they could not be
regularly grazed or cultivated, and the more distant portions
were in many cases appropriated by neighbouring lairds. As
evidenced by legislative enactments and numerous law pleas,
the common lands of most royal burghs were by such
processes gradually circumscribed within narrow limits. In
Glasgow, however, other conditions prevailed. The bishops
were residential proprietors, having large establishments to
maintain, and it was necessary that their estate should yield
a regular and substantial revenue. Accordingly, all the
available land round Glasgow, within the old barony and
regality, was parcelled out and allotted to a numerous body
of agriculturists and herdsmen, who paid rents to the bishops
in grain, poultry, and money, and brought their goods to
the market, which it was one of the chief objects of the
132 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
founders of the burgh to establish. On the other hand, the
people composing the original community of the burgh did
not chiefly depend for subsistence on the rearing of flocks
and herds or the produce of agriculture, and consequently the
lands belonging to them, in commonty and severalty combined,
covered a comparatively small area. A population of 2000
had less than an acre per head. Those lands possessed by
the traders and artisans of the new burgh were not used
solely for tillage and grazing. They likewise yielded a
sufficient supply of two very essential commodities, fuel and
building material, and when any considerable portion of the
surface was disposed of the rights of digging for coal and
quarrying for stone were usually reserved. M'Ure, writing
after the original territory had been augmented by the
purchase of Gorbals, well stocked with minerals, says : —
" The city is furnished with coals, digged or hewn furth of
eleven or twelve coal pits, within two miles of the town,
which supplies the inhabitants summer and winter with coals
cheaper and better than any other part of the kingdom.
There is abundance of freestone about the city, insomuch
that there is not a town in all Britain better supplied ; for
the most part of stone quarries belongs to the city and the
greater part lye within a mile, in such quantity as will probably
continue for some ages." ^ Supplies of limestone were also
got in the lands, and in 1 649, when the Town Council agreed
to set a " coal and lyme craig " in lease, they reserved liberty
to work it them selves. 2 As trade and population increased
the minerals became in greater demand, while the inhabitants,
engaged in other pursuits, could not give much personal
attention to the cultivation of the surface which was usually
let to tenants.
^ MHJre, pp. 1 2 1-2. ^ Glasg. Rec. ii. p. 177.
THE COMMON GOOD 133
The original burgh lands were situated wholly on the
north side of the river Clyde, along which they extended from
near the site of St. Andrew's Suspension Bridge on the east
to a small streamlet forming the west boundary of the
M'Alpine Street tenements on the west. Along and adjoining
this river frontage the earlier dwellings were erected, but at
a short distance above the Market Cross the rentallers' lands
came in. Ramshorn and Meadowflat, embracing the present
George Square, were in their possession from an early period,
and all to the west belonged either to rentallers or canons of
the Cathedral. North of Ramshorn lands were Provanside,
belonging to the sub-deans of Glasgow, and Broomhill, in the
hands of a rentaller. Eastward of the Cross was the Gallow-
muir, belonging to the community, but immediately to the
north were the lands of the Cathedral treasurer and those of
the sub-dean, embracing the craig on which the Necropolis
has been laid out, and coming as far west as Molendinar Burn.
East and north of these properties came the lands of Provan,
possessed by a Cathedral prebendary, Garngadhill and Easter
Common, the latter including Cowlairs, and all belonging to
the community, bordered with Provan, while Easter and
Wester Commons were connected by a narrow neck of land,
on each side of which were the possessions of other rentallers.
The apparently capricious boundary line, determining as it
does the special register in which title-deeds require to be
recorded, is sometimes troublesome to conveyancers, but
becomes intelligible when considered in relation to the dis-
tribution of the land between the two classes of rentallers and
burgesses.
Before the comparatively recent introduction of artificial
enclosures, no better or more common boundary in land
allotment was available than a burn flowing along its natural
134 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
channel. Indeed, the old Saxon name burn, which, as
applicable to a stream of water, is obsolete in England,
though still retained in this country, just signifies a boundary
or limit. In the useful service of marking separate territory,
Glasgow or St. Enoch's Burn, during its short course of
about a mile, had its full share. At its outflow from " Sanct
Rokis Loch " ^ it formed the march between the lands of
1 This small sheet of water got its name from the church, cemetery and
croft of St. Roche which it adjoined. In April, 1665, one James Farie
got a tack of " St. Rollokis kirkyaird and the grass therof," and in this
writing it was stated that the burying-ground was " neir to that place called
Plummers-holl." The croft surrounding the old chapel of St. Roche (a
name which was transformed into Rollok and Rollox) is known to have
occupied an area of some six acres of the Burgh Muir, now intersected by
the canal on the west side of Castle Street, and it was described in a title
deed of 1582 as bounded on the south by "Sanct Rokis Loch." A loch
in this locality could not have been of much extent at any time, and in
the process of land cultivation it was likely to be lessened. As " Plum,"
according to Jamieson's Dictionary, signifies a deep pool, it was surmised
that the more spacious " loch " of the sixteenth century had dwindled into
the " plummers hole " of a later period, and farther investigation has shown
that this was so. In 161 8 the south boundary of the croft is described as the
pool {paludem) called " St. Rollokis Loch or Plummaris Hole." This latter
name was still retained in 1 708, when the Incorporation of Tailors acquired
the croft. About six years afterwards the Tailors obtained authority from the
Town Council to straighten the highway (now Castle Street) " frae the ditch
running by the tree at the south end to the head of the dyke at the north end "
of the croft, and thus to " draw the water from off the hie way." This small
run of water apparently trickled into the "loch" on the east, while the curved
line of the western boundary is suggestive either of another streamlet entering
from that side or the margin of a small loch. The Tailors sold the croft in
1776, and the Barony Glebe is then specified as the south boundary; but
Glasgow Burn or St. Enoch's Burn, as it is named lower down, then divided
the croft and the glebe at or near the spot where the loch was formerly
situated and where Parliamentary Road now joins Castle Street. It may
therefore be assumed that by the end of the eighteenth century even Plummers
THE COMMON GOOD 135
Broomhill, possessed by the archbishop's rentallers, on the
north, and Parson's Croft, originally an endowment of the
parsonage of Glasgow, on the south. It next divided the
rentaller's lands of Cowcaddens from Provanside, possessed
by the sub-dean, and, still farther on, the parson of Erskine's
lands of Blythswood from those of Meadowflat, possessed
by rentallers, finally gliding past the old Chapel of St. Teneu
and into the river a little above the site of the present
Jamaica Street Bridge.
At its south-eastern corner Broomhill appears to have
protruded south of the burn, near the spot formerly covered
by the small loch above alluded to, thus forming a triangular
croft situated between the burn or loch on the north, what is
now Castle Street on the east, and a " lone " on the line of
the present Glebe Street on the west. A protocol of 1532
refers to this croft as bounded on the south by some buildings
in Stable Green, adjoining the Gyrth Cross.^ In 1596 the
Town Council gave instructions to some of their number to
proceed, " accompanied with some spaidis," to the marching
of the lones about the town and to begin at the " Stable
Greyn betwix Broomhill and the Persounes Croft." ^ From
the latter croft a strip of four acres adjoining the lone was
early set aside as a glebe for the minister,^ and from that area,
divided into building lots, as authorised by an Act of Parlia-
ment passed in 1793, ground-annuals are still drawn by the
minister of the Cathedral.
Hole had disappeared, and the further interesting fact is established that the
burn which for a considerable distance forms the old burgh boundary now
carries off the water which formerly gathered in " Sanct Rokis Loch or
Plummaris Hole."
'^ Glasg. Prot. No. 1139. ^ G/asg. Rec. i. p. 179.
^ Glasg. Chart, i. pt. i. abstract, p. 70, No. 517.
136 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
Broomhill croft was purchased as a glebe for the minister
of the Barony Church in 1701, and Parliamentary authority
to feu it out in building lots was obtained in 1802. One of
those who began to build on the Barony glebe was a mason
named Mackenzie, who was forthwith challenged by the
Incorporation of Masons for infringement of their privileges,
as he was not a freeman of their craft, A law plea ensued,
Mackenzie alleging that the glebe was not within the burgh,
and therefore beyond the Incorporation's jurisdiction, but in
1808 the Court of Session decided otherwise, finding that the
glebe formed part of the royalty. This, however, did not
satisfy the minister and heritors of the Barony parish, who
raised an action to have it declared that the glebe " does not
lie within or form part of the royalty, nor is subject to the
superiority or jurisdiction of the magistrates of that city, nor
to the regulations of the Incorporations within the same, nor
to any other burden, taxation, watching or warding, scot or lot,
to which the lands held burgage of the said city, or possessors
or inhabitants thereof, are liable or subject to." In their
defence the Town Council maintained that the glebe had from
time immemorial been regarded as within the burgh, this
being evidenced by the placing of the Royalty stones along
St. Enoch's burn, which bounded the glebe on the north.
A proof was taken on behalf of both litigants in May and
June, 181 1, and some of the evidence is of rather an
interesting character.^ In June, 18 12, a decision in this second
1 William Graham, of Lambhill, aged 69, recollected in his school days
" drinking at a well a very little to the north of the Barony glebe, which was
called the Physic Well, and there was then a Royalty stone a little to the west
of the glebe." The Physic Well, perhaps all that effective drainage had left
of the former loch, otherwise called " Plummaris Hole," was utilised at the
periodic perambulation of marches for impressing on the memory recollection
THE COMMON GOOD 137
law plea was pronounced by the Lord-Ordinary, who adopted
the finding in Mackenzie's case, and held that the Barony
Glebe was within the Royalty, but the Inner House reversed
the decision in the following year, giving the minister and
heritors the declarator they applied for ; and an appeal lodged
by the Town Council in the House of Lords having been
withdrawn, that declarator became final.
Meanwhile the adjoining glebe of the Inner High Church
had, in the course of its disposal for building purposes, been
regarded as part of the Royalty, and it was nobody's interest to
disturb that arrangement. But the remainder of Parson's
Croft, though likewise placed within the march-stones of the
of this part of the boundary. The means taken for this end may be gathered
from the evidence of John Alston, weaver, aged 54, who says that, when he was
an apprentice, his master told him that it was a custom, " when the magistrates
rode the marches to duck some of the last-made burgesses in the Physic
Well " ; and, on the same topic, James Bryce, victualler, aged 70, depones
that, forty years ago, it was commonly reported in the town that at the
marches-riding it was the custom " to duck the youngest town-officer in a
well called the Physic Well, which is now filled up, but which was near the
Barony glebe." Janet Paterson, widow of William Paterson, labourer, aged 78,
recollects of another well, called the Loanhead Well, in the Barony Glebe,
from which she carried water when a young girl. "About 57 years ago she
saw two ploughs going in the Barony Glebe on the Fast Day of the town
Sacrament. In general people wrought the Physic Well Park on the town's
Fast Day, but she never saw them working on the Barony Glebe except on the
occasion mentioned." William M'Culloch, farmer, Lightburn, aged 57, says
that when Mr. Hill was minister of the Barony parish, the deponent's father
was employed by him, for a good many years, to plough the Barony Glebe, and
on one occasion he recollects the glebe being sown and harrowed upon a Fast
Day preceding the town Sacrament. Mr. Hill told his father that the glebe
was not within the town's bounds, that the sowing and harrowing it on the
Fast Day could disturb nobody, and that his father could have the sowing
finished in time to go to church, Peter Ferguson, weaver, aged 55, had
resided in the neighbourhood of the Barony Glebe from his infancy. When
138 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
royalty,^ followed the lead of the Barony Glebe, and was
treated as beyond the bounds. This portion of Parson's Croft,
extending to about ten Scots acres, was purchased by the
Incorporation of Tailors in 1676. Little more than 100 years
ago it yielded a yearly rent of ;^40, but now produces from
feu-duties the substantial revenue of £,\^6() yearly.
Previous to the fuller publication of charters and records
made within recent years, it was surmised that the Common
Good had been augmented by the appropriation of Church
property subsequent to the Reformation, but the authentic
he was a boy he heard it very frequently mentioned by old people, as a
common report, that when delinquents or debtors, prosecuted before the town
courts of Glasgow, were pursued by the town officers, for the purpose of being
apprehended, they were in the practice of endeavouring to get across the
Howgate Strand ; and if they accomplished this they set the officers at defiance
and pointed their fingers at them in derision, as being then without the city's
jurisdiction. Howgate Strand was a small run of water which crossed Castle
Street, at the south end of the glebe, then passed through the infirmary
grounds and joined the Molendinar Burn a little to the north of the High
Church. Another witness, Thomas Alston, manufacturer, aged 55, places the
fugitives' point of escape at the north end of the glebe. In his young days it
was the practice for the town officers to apprehend boys who were playing on
the streets upon the Sabbath and the Fast Days preceding town Sacraments ;
and he remembered well that it was a common opinion with him and his
companions that they were safe from the town officers when they got beyond
the Physic Well, on the Glasgowfield road, or beyond the spot marked on
Mr. Fleming's plan " Toll-house," on the Kirkintilloch road, as they considered
themselves to be then without the town's jurisdiction.
^A plan prepared by James Barry in 1782, and reproduced in vol. ii. of
Glasgow Charters, shows the position of the march-stones which were placed
consecutively from No. 1 on the Green to No. 210 at the Broomielaw. In
the reproduced plan No. 208 is inadvertently omitted. The stone bearing
that number was placed on the north side of Anderston Walk (now Argyle
Street) directly opposite stone No. 209 on the south side.
THE COMMON GOOD 139
information now available makes it certain that the municipal
treasury was not enriched at the expense of the Church. On
the other hand, the pre-Reformation clergy were sometimes
endowed with portions of the common lands, as in the case of
the chapel of St. Roche, for which a site with cemetery and
croft were provided. In the year 1529, also, the magistrates
and community, assembled in the tolbooth, with consent of the
Archbishop, dedicated to the Collegiate Church of St. Mary,
then newly founded, sixteen acres of the Gallowmuir.^ Some of
the other endowments of burgh property possessed by priests
and friars may have had a similar origin, though documentary
evidence to that effect has not been traced. St. Nicholas
Hospital, an estimable institution for relief of the poor,
founded in the fifteenth century and still existing, though the
endowments are meagre, had likewise various parcels of land
within the bounds of the burgh. Increase of population,
and the consequent necessity of procuring building sites,
together with the desire for laying additional land under
cultivation, accounted for further alienations of the common
lands. Before the middle of the sixteenth century Gallowmuir,
the nearest and most accessible of the commons, appears to
have been almost wholly in the hands of individual proprietors,
who paid yearly feu-duties to the town. In or about the year
1568 the inhabitants, at their annual open-air assembly on the
'^Symmerhill," resolved that each burgess should get half an acre
^ G/asg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 109-12, This grant was ratified by the
Archbishop, " immediate lord superior and ordinary in things spiritual
and temporal," with consent of the dean and chapter of the Cathedral,
" provided the grant do not in any wise prejudice or impede a public way to
travellers, and the tenants of our lands of Burrowfield, adjacent to the said
acres on the one side, going to our city of Glasgow and returning therefrom "
{lb. p. 116).
I40 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
of such parts of the commons as were unprofitable for
pasturing stock ; ^ and, in consequence of this arrangement,
Garngadhill and the remainder of Gallowmuir were transferred
to private owners. William Walker, the archbishop's steward,
considered that such a division ought not to have been made
without the sanction of his master, and he declined to accept a
portion for himself. In a letter to the archbishop, recounting
the proceedings. Walker speaks of his troubles as evidenced
" be the changeing of the colouris of my hair, quhilk was blak
and now is quhyte." ^ About this time the Town Council and
community, with consent of Archbishop Betoun, feued a large
portion of Easter Common to Sir John Stewart of Minto, then
Provost of Glasgow, and, so far as has been noticed, this was
the earliest sale of any considerable share of the common lands.
It is not known what price was paid, but subsequent accounts
show that the yearly feu-duty was £2^ 6s. 8d. Scots. Sir
John transferred the lands to a citizen of Glasgow named
James Fleming, from whom they derived their existing
designation of Flemington.^ In 1576 the community resolved
that what was left of the common muirs should be retained for
the furnishing of fuel and pasturage,* and it was perhaps in
consequence of this resolution that more than a hundred years
elapsed before there was another alienation of much impor-
tance.
In a rental of 1590 the sum of ^c^"] is set down for "the
maillis of the new revin furth landis of Gallowmuir, Garnegad,
and utheris." Some acres are entered in the account at
13s. 4d. each, and others higher or lower, but, taking los.
1 Glasg. Rec. i. p. 51.
"^Miscellaneous Papers (Maitland Club, 1834), P- -A-
^ Glasg. Prot. Nos. 1606, 1614, 2462; Glasg. Chart, ii. 430.
* Glasg. Rec. i. p. 52.
THE COMMON GOOD 141
as the average rate per acre, the cumulo £'^'] represents an
alienation of more than a hundred acres of common land. It
had been intended that the lone over Garngadhill should be
thirty ells in breadth, but the purchasers of the adjoining lots
had encroached on that space and narrowed it to twelve ells.
For the land thus appropriated the heritors on each side of the
lone undertook to pay the value, and it was agreed to keep the
passage at its modified width of twelve feet.^ Near Garngad-
hill, to the north of St. Roche's croft, was a piece of marshy
ground called Skellings-myre, and " above and about " the
myre several lots of ground, varying from half an acre
to three acres in extent, were, before the years 1657-9, as
shown by a rental of that period, conveyed to individuals
for payment to the town of yearly feu-duties or ground
annuals.^
For some years previous to 1676 the town's expenditure
had been exceptionally heavy. Several purchases had been
made for additions to the New Green, but the chief extra
outlay was incurred in repairing Glasgow Bridge and in
constructing a harbour at Port-Glasgow. In the accounts of
the Common Good for 1672-3 and 1673-4 the over expendi-
ture amounted to ;^6633 and ;^9053 Scots respectively.
Money was urgently required, and on the facts being
represented to the Convention of Royal Burghs that body
authorised the community to sell three portions of their
common muir " for improvement of their Common Good and
relief of their poor,"^ One of the pieces thus sold embraced
the south-western portion of the remaining lands of Easter
Common, called Liddell's or Limehouse Bog. John Liddell
possessed a " house and yeard " at Limehouse (probably
^ G/asg. Rec. lii. p. 529; Glasg. Chart, ii. pp. 570-3.
'^Ib. p. 546. ^Conv. Rec. iii. p. 660.
142 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
including a limekiln) for which he paid ten merks, yearly, to the
town. He must have held the property for a considerable
time, as the Town Council had, in 1641, instructed him to
plant twelve ash trees there.^ The land adjoining the lime-
house was set by the town to Liddell on tack, and, in 1658, he
complained that he was troubled by lint-growers who steeped
their lint in the " water-hollis " in his leased lands, trod down
his growing corns and grass, and cast turf in the best parts of
his grass for laying the same on the steeping lint.^ The lot
embracing this marshy ground, and extending on the west to
Wester Common and Broomhill, was sold to Ninian Anderson,
merchant and burgess of Glasgow, at the price of ^^940 Scots,
with an annual feu-duty of five merks.^ These lands were, in
1752, acquired by Fleeming Pinkston, some time of Bangor in
County Down, but then a surgeon in London. The new
proprietor changed the name of the lands to Pinkston,
but the original designation still appears in title-deeds.
Pinkston Burn, which rose in the lands and flowed west-
ward to the Kelvin, was, in the recollection of a writer in
1 849, a sparkling stream, supplying bleachworks on the way,
and having in its course through Rosehall gardens a figure
placed in midstream representing the Lady of the Lake.*
The burn has now for some time been diverted into a
covered sewer.
Another lot, adjoining Limehouse Bog and extending east-
ward to the lands of Flemington, already noticed, was purchased
by James Farie, sometime a bailie of Glasgow. This lot was
described as " the lands in the common called Cowlaires and
Seggieholme, with the hill thereof, and the west part of the
land called Sighthill." The price, realised by public roup, as
^ G/asg. Rec. i. p. 428. -lb. ii. p. 401.
^ Glasg. Chart, ii. p. 369. '^ Past and Present, p. 21.
THE COMMON GOOD i43
were the prices of the other two lots, was 3000 merks, with
an annual feu-duty of ten merks. ^
The third lot sold in 1676 consisted of the main portion
of Wester Common lying to the west of Garscube Road.
The purchaser was John Campbell, owner of the adjoining
estate of Woodside, and the price was 2050 merks, with ten
merks of yearly feu-duty. From the names of previous
lessees the lands were called Moodies and Peters Maillings.^
The adjoining lands on the south, called Pirries Bog, lying
in the line of the present New City Road, had been conveyed
by the town to Walter Craig, a notary, in the year 1575-6, and
to John Anderson, bailie, in 1632,^ and by a series of trans-
missions these plots had already come into the possession of
the laird of Woodside. In 1704 the laird likewise acquired
the adjoining " Simmerhill " from the town, at the price of
;^6o Scots with 1 2d. of yearly feu-duty. All these lands,
either in property or superiority, now form part of the entailed
estate of Blythswood.
Summerhill, just referred to, has an interest of its own
which it may be worth while to allude to more fully before
narrating the disposal of the remaining common lands.
Glasgow's municipal year in the olden time was enlivened by
three assemblies in the open air at which the inhabitants
assisted in the transaction of public business. On a Tuesday
in the end of May or beginning of June the Whitsunday
Court was held, the place of meeting being at one time the
Milldam, now included in Glasgow Green, and latterly the Old
Green, west of Stockwell Street. At this Court the Common
Good for the ensuing year was set to tacksmen, officials (such
as treasurer, clerk, and minstrels) were chosen, and then the
^G/asg. Chart, ii. p. 369. "^ lb. p. 368.
^ Glasg. Prot. No. 224.8; Glasg. Rec. ii. p. 12.
144 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
company joined in the perambulation of the city's marches.
Later in June the inhabitants met on the " Symmerhill,"
passed regulations as to the occupation of the common lands
and other public concerns, such as the terms for admission of
burgesses, and disposed of any business left over from the
Whitsunday meeting. Wappenschaws were also sometimes
combined with the day's proceedings, as in 1601, when all
the burgesses were appointed to be in readiness " with thair
armour, on fute," on the morning of the " Symmerhill daye,"
and the provost, bailies, councillors, and deacons to be on
horseback. Previous to 1590 these meetings appear to have
been sometimes held on the first day of the week, but in
that year there was a postponement till Tuesday, " for the
observatioun of the Sabboth day." The third assembly took
place on 6th July, when the fair beginning on that day, in
conformity with King William's charter to Bishop Joceline,
was proclaimed at Craigmak, a piece of rocky ground on
the west side of High Street and adjoining the place of the
Greyfriars.
As a Glasgow place-name Summerhill has long ago dis-
appeared. Derived originally from the midsummer meetings,
the designation subsisted while these continued, and even after
they fell into desuetude, so long as the grazings were separately
let to tacksmen. As a rent of ;^3 only was obtained for the
hill and Woodside lone combined, it is evident that the former
was of small extent. These lets ceased in 1655, when the
Town Council appointed " the gerse of Simerhill and the lone
that passes to the Wodsyde not to be sett heirefter, bot to lye
for the use of the towne kye allanerlie." This is the last
occasion on which the name of the hill has been noticed in the
Council record, and neither this nor previous entries enable
one to realise its whereabouts, the only help in that direction
THE COMMON GOOD 145
being a statement that in 1574 a march stone was removed
from the hill, showing that it was somewhere on the royalty
boundary line.^
The published Protocols supplied more specific information.
From that source it was ascertained that in 1575-6 the Town
Council feued part of a common bog which was bounded on
the south by the lands of " Cowcaldanes alias Symmerhill." ^
Meikle and Little Cowcaddens can be traced in the possession
of the Bishops' rentallers and their successors from the
beginning of the sixteenth century, and are known to lie on
each side of the present Cowcaddens Street, but they have a
somewhat extended frontage, and something more was needed
to fix the precise locality. Moodies and Peiters Maillings,
purchased, as already mentioned, by James Campbell of
Woodside, are described in his title as bounded on the south
by the lands called "Pirries boig and the way leading to
Somershill." Pirries bog, composed of the ground feued in
1575-6 and another portion feued in 1565-6,^ stretched from
the road leading to the town's quarry (Garscube Road) on the
east, to Woodside lands on the west, and embraced the low
ground lying along and on each side of what is now New
City Road after it leaves Cowcaddens Street. Latterly
what remained of " Symmerhill " had become detached from
Wester Common and neglected, and, being surrounded on all
sides save that adjoining the highway, by the lands of the laird
of Woodside, he, about the year 1689, quietly enclosed it with
Cowcaddens Park, then belonging to him. Investigation
followed some ten years later, and it was then arranged that
the appropriated land should be retained by the laird at a price
to be fixed by valuators. The extent was found to be five
roods Scots (barely two imperial acres) and these were conveyed
^ Glasg. Rec. i. p. 13. - Glasg. Prot. No. 2248. ^ lb. No. 1527.
K
146 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
to John Campbell of Woodside in the year 1704.^ Described
merely as part of " the common " on the west side of the road
to the town's quarry the old midsummer gathering place is
not recognisable from the title deeds except by the piecing
together of these various particulars, but the result seems to be
satisfactory. Summerhill is thus identified with the braeside
which surrounds the spot where Rose Street and Cambridge
Street now unite. The royalty line on the Glasgow Directory
plan marks the south boundary, and on the ground itself may
be seen within the railing on the east side of Rose Street an
old march stone, perhaps the successor of that which was
" tane awaye of the Symmerhill " in 1574.
The northern portion of the remaining lands of Wester
Common was sold, in 1730, to James Rae, merchant, at the
price of £i4.S9 3s. 4d. Scots, with a yearly feu-duty of 100
merks Scots. This was considered the equivalent of a yearly
rent of 205 merks which Rae had been previously paying as
lessee. At first called Raehill, the lands, after they came into
the possession of Robert Hamilton, who likewise acquired a
small piece of additional ground, have been known by the
name of Hamilton Hill. The coal and stone quarries in the
lands were reserved to the town and the coal was worked on
lease so recently as the year 1891. What was left of Wester
Common, consisting of 21 acres 3 roods Scotch measure, lying
between Garscube Road and Broomhill, was sold to John
Young, tailor, in 1747, at the price of ;^i30 sterling, with a
yearly feu-duty of ;^2o Scots. Coal and stone quarries in this
portion of Wester Common were likewise reserved to the
town. The southern portion of Young's ground was re-
acquired by the Corporation some years ago and formed into
the Phoenix recreation ground.
^ Glasg. Chart, ii. p. 425.
THE COMMON GOOD 147
The lands of Petershill in Easter Common had been let on a
forty-five years' lease to William Stobo, merchant, on the
understanding that he should drain the loch situated on the
south side of the lands. But the expense had exceeded the
tenant's calculations, and in order to encourage him to com-
plete the improvements it was arranged that the lands, under
reservation of coal and stone quarries, should be sold to him
at the price of 3500 merks, with a yearly feu-duty of 100
merks, and the transaction was completed on these lines in
1729. Petershill bordered with Flemington on the north, and
had on the south the town's remaining lands of Easter
Common, extending southwards to Garngadhill. This remain-
ing portion, consisting of forty-two acres, came into the
market in 1755, and was sold by public roup to Hugh
Tennentj gardener, at the price of £1^0 sterling, with £10
sterling of yearly feu-duty, and under the usual reservation
of coal and stone quarries. In the feu contract granted by
the Town Council it is stated that the magistrates had agreed
to the sale to increase the revenue, the lands " having, past all
memory, been barren and sterile and never plowed, and having
never yielded any rent or profit to the Council and com-
munity." This sale may be regarded as practically exhausting
the burgh's original territory, though a few superficial acres,
chiefly in the New Green, the reserved minerals under a
larger area, and some feu-duties or ground annuals, still
appear as Common Good assets. The multifarious require-
ments of a growing community have gradually led to the
disposal of the rest in ways and for reasons which seemed
commendable to the administrators of the city's afl^airs for
the time.
Nearly all the lands now forming part of the Common
Good have been acquired since the middle of the seventeenth
148 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
century. In 1588 most of the town's lands of Dassiegreen
and Peitbog, used by the salmon fishers for landing their boats
and drying their nets, and now included in Glasgow Green
had to be realised for payment of debt, but they were
reacquired in 1664, and adjacent portions were subsequently
added, the latest considerable acquisition for the Green being
made in 1792,^ In 1650 Gorbals lands were purchased as a
joint venture by the city, Hutchesons' Hospital, and the
Trades House ; ^ the Barony of Provan was acquired by the
city on its own account in 1667 ;2 and in 1668 lands at
Newark were secured in connection with the establishment
of the harbour, since known as Port-Glasgow.* Of these
purchases, so far as land revenues are concerned, Gorbals has
been the most productive. At present the yearly feu-duties
drawn for a portion of the lands amount to more than double
the price originally paid for the city's share of the whole.
The remaining heritable properties, detailed in the published
accounts, are of comparatively recent acquirement.
As has been already observed, mills connected with royal
burghs originally belonged to the sovereign, who often leased
them to the burgesses for payment of a fixed rent. Similarly,
in Glasgow the bishop set to the community a mill on the
Molendinar Burn, while other mills on the Molendinar as well
as the Kelvin were subsequently acquired, and for a long
time the revenues derived from that source formed the largest
item in the Common Good account. All the mills have for
some time been sold or discontinued, but a remnant of the
old town mill lands has still a place in the assets. Petty
customs, including "ladle" dues, were collected till 1847,
when they were abolished, and a payment of ;^I500 yearly
'^ Water Supply, etc. Appx. p. 28; Glasg. Prot. No. 873.
^Glasg. Chart, ii. pp. 19-29. ^ lb. p. 120. ^ lb. p. 132.
THE COMMON GOOD 149
provided from the police rates as compensation. Dues on
the admission of burgesses have been continuously collected
and regularly appear in the accounts. According to the
published account for 1905-6 the entry-money amounted to
£2^^. The principal revenues, as shown by these accounts,
consist of feu-duties and ground annuals, ;^5457 ; Old
Clothes and Bird and Dog Markets, City Hall and St.
Andrew's Halls, ^^8276; heritable property, ^^Sj^; allov/-
ance in lieu of petty customs, £1^00; and ;/^35,ooo
contributed by the Tramway Department in respect of
expenditure out of the Common Good on the construction
of tramways.
The earliest preserved account of " commone guddis " is
that for the year 1573-4. The " toune myln " then produced
in Scots money ;^io8 13s. 4d., but the tacksman got back
;^2i '* be ressoun of the greit droutht." Then there were
received for the town mill land £1^ 13s. 4d. ; market
dues, called " ladill," ;^i3o; dues levied at the bridge,
£6S 13s.; the "common annuells," corresponding to
ground annuals or feu-duties, £20 19s. 9d. ; and the " burges
fynes," being dues payable on the admission of eighteen
burgesses at £6 17s. 4d. each — ;^I23 17s. The revenues for
the year reached a total of ;^569 6s. id. On the disburse-
ment side of the account, the larger sums may be grouped
under (i) Works and furnishings paid by the treasurer with
money given by him to the master of works for expenditure,
£11 S ') (2) members of council and officials visiting Edinburgh
and other towns, messengers and travelling expenses, ^^142 ;
and (3) banquets, entertainments, and wine presented to noble-
men and others, £121. The Earl of Argyle, then Lord-
Chancellor, got several donations of wine, making twenty
gallons in all, at a total cost of ;^2o. Lord Boyd, the Provost,
ISO GLASGOW MEMORIALS
besides his annual fee of 20 marks, was presented with two
hogsheads and six quarts of wine at a cost of ;^35 6s. 8d.
To the Provost's kinsman, " my Lord of Glasgow, quhen he
wes admittit bischop," there was presented " ane galloun of
wyne." Each of the three bailies got an annual fee of
£6 13s. 4d., and the like remuneration was given to each
of the common procurator, common clerk, treasurer, master
of work, and the town's advocate in Edinburgh. The
advocate's " servand " was allowed 20s. " in drynk sylver."
At the close of the year's intromissions the treasurer found
himself in possession of a surplus of ;^40.^ The earliest
published account thus resembles the latest in having the
balance on the right side, though there is a considerable
difference in degree, as in the account of the Common Good
for the year 1905-6 revenue exceeded expenditure to the
extent of £16^60 ^ los. yd.
^G/asg. Rec. i. pp. 447-53.
X.
THE OLD GRAIN MILLS OF GLASGOW
IT has been claimed for corn-milling that it is the oldest
continuously conducted industry in the world. Primeval
man began the process by pounding grain into meal with
unshapely stones, on which improvements were gradually
made till the revolving quern was invented. A further
advance resulted in the handmill, provided with simple
machinery, such as a crank and wheels. Roman authors
relate how at first these mills were worked by slaves and
criminals, and how latterly cattle were employed in driving
machinery of a similar type, but of a more complex con-
struction. Water-power, it is believed, was first used for
mills shortly before the opening of the Christian era, and it
may be assumed that mills of that description were introduced
into the British Isles during the Roman occupation.^ Scotland,
with its ever-recurring glen and burn, was well adapted for
the development of the new system, and accordingly, when
our national history opens, every large landowner possessed
his mill, to which his tenants and dependents were bound to
resort ; each of the royal burghs had its mill, for which rent
was usually paid to the king, and many of the great religious
houses likewise possessed mills among their endowments.
1 See History of Corn Milling, by Richard Bennet and John Ellon.
152 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
The heavy expense of erecting and maintaining water-mills
could only be met by massing contributors, and this was
accomplished by assigning to each mill a district called the
" thirl," the grindable produce of which must either be
brought thither or the dues paid for whatever grain was
carried elsewhere. Monopolies thus established became
lucrative, and among other efforts to render them more
complete, the use of handmills was generally prohibited,
though still allowed in exceptional cases, such as during a
scarcity of water, or when used by a particular class, as in
the case of burgesses of a royal burgh. The Burgh Laws of
the thirteenth century contain various regulations regarding
mills. Briefly summarised, these laws forbid the grinding of
wheat, mixed grain, or rye at handmills, unless compelled by
great storm or want of water-mills ; the Great Chamberlain,
when on circuit, was to inquire " gif any man keip hand-
mylnes other than ane burges," " gif roumes in the mylne be
duly keipit for the burgesses," and if any withheld multures
" fra our lord the kingis mylnes " ; the tacksmen of the king's
mills in burghs and his servants were to be " of gud fame,"
chosen by the good men of the town, and were to swear fealty
to the king and of *' rychtuis multyr to be tane." Multure
was the quantity of grain due to the miller for grinding the
grain, and sequels were the smaller quantities, known as
knaveship, bannock, and lock or gowpen, which were given
to the servants at the mill.
As territorial lords, the bishops had several mills throughout
the barony of Glasgow. Govan Ward was not provided with
suitable water-power/ and one mill on the Kelvin served it
^ Gorbals, in Govan Ward, had a windmill which stood some little
distance west of the spot now occupied by Jamaica Street Bridge, on a site
which, according to Macgeorge {Old Glasgow, p. i6o), is now deep water, near
C ^
C .«
THE OLD GRAIN MILLS 153
and Partick Ward. Badermonach Ward, corresponding to
the modern Cadder parish, had its mill at Bedlay, and Clydes-
mill supplied the wants of Cuik's Ward or West Monkland.
There were also mills connected with the territorial endow-
ments of two of the cathedral prebends, one of these being
the mill of Provan, to which the lands in that barony were
thirled, and the other was the subdean's mill, situated on the
Molendinar Burn, at the foot of Drygate, Besides these five,
the origin of which cannot be traced, two additional mills were
set agoing on the Kelvin in the sixteenth century, A waulk
or fulling mill, called " the new walkmyll of Partik," was
leased to one Donald Lyon in 1517 ; and his son, Archibald
the centre of the river. The mill, which gave the name of Windmill Croft to
adjoining ground, is depicted, in a dismantled condition, in a view of Glasgow
from the south-west, about 1768. Part of the croft was acquired for harbour
purposes at a later period, and the remains of the mill, if any existed, must
then have been removed, while its site would be submerged. Gorbals can
be traced in the possession of the Elphinstone family from at least the year
1520, and when, in 1608, the town secured the monopoly of the mills, Sir
George Elphinstone was owner. The earliest extant reference to the wind-
mill occurs in I599> but it was probably in existence long ere that time. In
order that its competition might be got out of the way, when in the beginning
of the seventeenth century the town acquired a monopoly in the mills. Sir
George had to be reckoned with, and the negotiations resulted in his being
paid "for the maill of his wind milne," i6o merks yearly till 1629, and during
each of the last three years of his lifetime (163 1-4) the allowance was increased
to jQioo. Whether the mill was for a time kept by the town as a going
concern, or whether it was from the first allowed to fall into decay, has not
been ascertained, but that the yearly allowance was personal to Sir George,
and not regarded as the rent of a structure, is indicated by the fact that a sum
of ;^200 was paid to him after he sold Gorbals in the beginning of 1634,
while the last half-yearly payment was made in 1635 to the representatives of
" umquhile Sir George Elphinstoun." Subsequent proprietors do not seem to
have got similar allowances, and in any case liability would cease in 1650,
when Gorbals was purchased by the town.
154 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
Lyon, on succeeding to the rental right in 1554, was allowed
to transform it into a mill for grinding any manner of corn,
on condition that the thirlage of Partick mill should not be
prejudiced, and that the lessee should grind such wheat as was
required for the bishop's house free of multure.^ The
other new mill was that erected by the baxters of Glasgow
about the year 1569, a date which goes so far to support the
popular tradition that the baxters obtained the site in reward
for their services at the battle of Langside.^
The three " ward " mills were probably in existence in the
twelfth century, when the burgh of Glasgow was founded, but
it may be assumed that at that time the inhabitants, in accor-
dance with the practice of a later period, got their meal ground
nearer home. Molendinar Burn was always at hand, and was
sufficient to supply the water-power needful for a small com-
munity, and, following the precedent set by the king with
regard to royal burghs, the bishops of Glasgow must
from the first have provided a mill for their burgesses.
Perhaps the earliest town's mill, as already suggested,^ was
situated near the place called Milndam, now included in
Glasgow Green, or it may possibly have been the mill which
was latterly added to the endowments of the sub-deanery, as
the position of either of these was more convenient for the
inhabitants than was the site which, in the beginning of the
fifteenth century, was assigned to them for their town mill.
With regard to the erection of this mill, we fortunately have
some authentic particulars. It was situated at a higher part
of the same stream which supplied water-power to the sub-
dean's mill, and adjoined the lands of Garngad possessed
by the community. As set forth in a document, dated
4th February, 1446-7, and still preserved, Bishop Cameron
"^ Glasg. Chart, ii. p. 512. "^Ib. p. 548. ^ Antea, p. 49.
THE OLD GRAIN MILLS 155
(1426-46) allowed the burgesses to erect a mill on the-
" Malyndoner " Burn, upon the south side of " Gardyngad,"
in consideration of their giving two pounds of wax yearly to
the keeper of the lights around St. Kentigern's tomb, and it
was acknowledged that the stipulation had been regularly
implemented during the bishop's lifetime.^ This mill and
its successors on the same site existed for upwards of four
centuries, but little is known regarding the management of
these mills till the preserved Council records begin in 1573.
Six years previous to that date " the common mill, kiln, and
mill lands " were mortgaged in security of 400 merks,
borrowed at 10 per cent., the usual rate of interest at that
period.2 In 1573-4 the sum of ;/^io8 13s. 4d. was received
by the town treasurer as rent of the mill, and £14. 13s. 4d.
for the mill lands.^ The tacksman of the mill was remunerated
by multures and other dues contributed in kind by those
who brought grain to be ground. An entry in the Burgh
Court book, dated 4th March, 1574-5, records that one Jonet
Fary had broken the lock of the " multour kist," and taken
away "v multouris and thre knaifschipps of malt."* In
November, 1576, during the Provostship of Lord Boyd, the
Town Council, by way of augmenting the Common Good,
resolved that, at the time of their admission, burgesses should
undertake to bring all their corns to the town mills to be
ground, if that could be done on as easy terms as were
obtainable elsewhere ; that all brewers and makers of aquavitae
should bring their malt to these mills, and that in future the
common mills and such others as the town might acquire
were not to be feued or set on tacks for more than a year.^
Shortly after this time it was reported that the " commone
'^G/asg. Chart, i. pt. ii. p. 25. ^ Glasg. Prot. No. 949.
^Glasg. Rec. i, p. 447. ^ lb. p. 35. ^ lb. p. 56.
156 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
towne mylne is alluterlie ruinous," and preparations were made
for its being rebuilt. Meanwhile, as it was considered that the
mill, though repaired, was insufficient to supply the inhabi-
tants, they acquired from Archibald Lyon his rights in the mill
on Kelvin. The sum of £iSS i8s. lod. was thereafter paid
by the town " to wrichtis, masounes, and quariouris for new
bigging of the commone towne mylne, quhilk wes tane doune
and new biggit in the symmer." ^ The rebuilt mill had a
thatched roof, as appears from a minute in 1599, when
instructions were given " to caus by straye and theik the
tounes mylnes sua that the same may be maid watterfast."
In 1577 the "commowne towne auld mylne" was set to
tacksmen for 160 merks, and the mill on the Kelvin for 30
bolls malt and 20 bolls meal, but as these quantities of victual
had to be given to Lyon yearly during his lifetime, the latter
mill did not increase the town's revenues at that time. After
Lyon's decease his heirs were to be entitled to receive 100
merks yearly till redeemed by payment of the capital sum of
1000 merks, and the archbishop had likewise to be paid his
yearly rent of four merks.^
After the thirlage resolution passed in 1576 had been in
operation for a few years it was found to be oppressive and
unworkable, and in June, 1581, when Esme, Earl of Lennox,
was Provost, it was abrogated. The reasons assigned for
reverting to the former practice of allowing the inhabitants
to resort to such mills as they pleased were that the two mills
belonging to the town were insufficient " to mak continewale
and daylie service to this tounschip, being populus and haifing
hourelie victuale of gritt quantitie to grind, and becaus the
said mylnis are situat on burns quhilk will stand the haill
^ G/asg. Prot. No. 2964,
^ G/asg. Rec. i. pp. 58, 199; Glasg. Chart, ii. pp. 553-7.
THE OLD GRAIN MILLS 157
symmer seasoun dry without watter." Farther, even if there
were a sufficiency of water, the two mills could not " male
service to the haill inhabitantis of this toun, the saidis
inhabitantis being burdenit with the furnising of passengeris
and repair of noble men, togidder with the repair and charge
of the Helandis, and als with the furnesing of fischeris and
traficqueris of this toun to the Isles, Yrland, and ellisquhair,
to mak change of aill and aquavytie, with the furnesing of the
Universitie, the repair of mercatt folkis twyis in oulk, be the
quhilkis occasiones and reasones foirsaid the said toune and
communitie ar inrichit and doith stand for the maist parte."
The inhabitants engaged in this prosperous traffic felt a
peculiar hardship in having to pay " double multuris," the
one to the farmer of the mill to which they were thirled, but
which might be stopped " in symmer seasoun for laik of
watter," and the other to the mill where the grain was actually-
ground.^ No farther change of any consequence is noticed
in the management of the mills, which continued to be let
to tacksmen at varying rents, such as 568 merks in 1589
and ;^500 in 1596, till the year 1608, when the town, heavily
burdened with debt, sought relief in a speculation whereby
they obtained control over additional mills on the Molendinar
and Kelvin, The archbishop leased Partick mill to the
community for nine or ten years, they paying as rent 50 bolls
of malt yearly, and a ten years' lease of the Subdean mills
was likewise obtained from the laird of Minto at a yearly rent
of ;i^400. This accomplished, thirlage was re-established, and
the inhabitants bound to bring their grain to the town's mills
to be ground at as cheap a rate as was charged elsewhere,
and no malt was to be brewed except such as was ground at
these mills ; but the new regulations were " without prejudice
^Glasg. Rec. i. pp. 86-88.
158 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
to the baxteris to grind quheit and rye in thair awin mylnis."
The mills owned or rented by the town were thereupon set
to tacksmen on a five years' lease for payment of 4400 merles
(^244 sterling) yearly. In 1616 the rent was increased to
6466 merks, and in succeeding years there was usually a
progressive rise in the rental, the mills being for a long time
the most productive source of the town's revenue. Each
of the mills, according to a regulation passed in 1628, was to
be served by " ane myller and ane knave, tua persounes
allanerlie," and the miller was to " sustein his knave upoun
his bonok," which was to be collected with measures supplied
by the Dean of Guild under the town's seal. Next year,
when similar regulations were passed, the knave is styled
" under myller," and it was specially provided that no
" loik " or other dues should be exacted beyond " ordinar
multour, knaifscip, and bannock." ^ The multure taken for
malt was the 28th part of the quantity ground at the mills,
and the bannock was the 56th part, being half as much as
the multure.
Considerable opposition was raised to the thirlage scheme
by " sum malicious personis," and James Elphinstone, of
Woodside, who had a mill of his own, took proceedings for
having the resolution suspended,^ but the system, sanctioned
by a royal charter obtained in 161 1, took effectual root and
continued till well on in the nineteenth century. Before the
expiry of the ten years during which thirlage had been imposed
in 1608, it was made permanent, and the following clause was
inserted in the oath taken by each burgess on admission :
" I shall not brew na malt bot sic as is grund at the townes
mylnes, nor by aitis to be grund at ony uther mylnes bot
^ Glasg. Rec. i. pp. 368-9; ii. pp. 555-67.
^ G/asg. Chart, i. pt. i. pp. 358-9.
THE OLD GRAIN MILLS 159
the same allanerlie, or ony uther stuf except quheit, quhilkis
I sal happin to inbring within this burgh or sauld be me
thairintill."^ The exception of "quheit" preserved the privi-
leges of the baxters' mill. In 1655 the Town Council referred
to the success of the thirlage, " whereby the towne, be the
blessing of God, hes bein inabled to repair thair kirkis, brigs,
build thair tolboothe, commoune caseys, paying thair ministeris
stipends, and many mae commoune workis, to the great guid,
commodatioune, and decorment of the citie." ^ Renewal leases
of both Partick and Subdean Mills were procured when the
ten years expired, and in 161 9 the town purchased the latter
mills from Sir Walter Stewart of Minto, for payment of a
yearly feu-duty of 900 merks, which was redeemed some years
afterwards by a cash payment of 20,000 merks. This
purchase included not only two water mills but also a " man
mill," which probably performed good service when water
was scarce, and there were also 23 kilns, the possessors of
which paid to the town feu-duties amounting to ;^I02 13s. /\.d.
yearly. The lands of Easter and Wester Craigs, both outside
the burgh, were thirled to the mills, thereby farther increasing
the revenue.^ Partick mill, which in 1660 was reported to
be of little profit on ordinary occasions, " but verie stedable
to the toune in tyme of ane drouth and frost," was possessed
by the town on rental right till a feu charter was obtained
from the crown in 1738. The feu-duty payable under this
charter was composed of the former rents, viz., 50 bolls
ground malt for the mill, 8 bolls oatmeal for 4 acres of
adjoining land, and 10 merks with 4 capons for the house
and yard attached to the mill.
^Historical Glasgow, p. 58. '^ Glasg. Rec. ii. p. 309,
^Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 302-14; ii. pp. 5-18; Glasg, Rec. iii.
PP- 544-5-
i6o GLASGOW MEMORIALS
For increasing the volume of water in the Molendinar
Burn some impounding and collecting works were executed
at Hogganfield and Frankfield Lochs. The natural outfall
of the latter loch was towards Luggie Water, but its contents
were brought by an artificial cut into Hogganfield Loch, and
thence sent down Molendinar Burn. The lochs were situated
within the barony of Provan, belonging, in the beginning of
the seventeenth century, to the Hamiltons of Silvertonhill, and
the town seems to have had some early arrangement with these
proprietors for improving the water supply. In 1625 the
town treasurer paid to the laird of Silvertonhill ;^ioo " for the
libertie of his watter to the tounes mylnes thir thrie yeiris
bygane," ^ and similar payments were subsequently made. ' The
laird's own mill of Provan being situated on the same burn,
about a mile above the town's highest mill, he had the first use
of the water, though any improvement of the supply would be
of mutual advantage. In 1667 the Town Council of Glasgow
got entire control over the water supply by the purchase of the
barony of Provan, including the lochs and mill.^ After they
entered into possession further operations at the lochs and cast
between them were carried out, and the mill, which, besides
grinding the produce of the newly acquired barony, was a
useful auxiliary to its neighbours farther down the stream,
was set to a tacksman on a 19 years' lease.
In 1732 mention is made of a malt mill which had been
erected on the Molendinar Burn a little below the old town's
mill, and in 1765 this malt mill is described as "now erected
into a miln for grinding snuff." Ninian Bryce, the tacksman,
had incurred large expense in repairs and alterations, and in
order that he might be recouped he got a tack for the period
of twice 19 years, at a yearly rent of ^^5 sterling, but, "to
^ Glasg. Rec. i. p. 34.9. ^ Glasg. Chart, ii. p. 1 20.
1^ 5:
IS
o ^
THE OLD GRAIN MILLS i6i
encourage him to carry on his work in manufacturing and
grinding tobacco," the £^ was allowed to him in pension for
life if he continued the mill as a going concern. In 1786,
by which time Bryce was dead, the snuff mill was reported
to be ruinous, and subsequently steps were taken for having
it re-let. At a later period the mill was used for the making
of files, and was known as the File-mill.
As the mills on the Molendinar burn, thus increased in
number and improved in water supply, became sufficient for
the town's purposes those on the Kelvin were disposed of.
Archibald Lyon's mill was, in 1771, sold to the Incorporation
of Bakers, who held it till 1874, when the site was reacquired
by the city and laid out as part of Kelvingrove Park. Partick
mill was sold in 1809, and the site is now occupied by the
Bishop Mill in Old Dumbarton Road. When the Commis-
sioners on Municipal Corporations issued their report in 1835
it was stated that the mills belonging to the city of Glasgow
were Provan-mill, Subdean-mill, Town-mill, and the File-mill.
Along with attached lands the mills then produced an aggre-
gate rent of ;^592, and they were valued at £^9y S sterHng.
Experiencing the common fate of their class, the old
Town-mill was destroyed by fire in 1857 and the File-mill
in 1862, and they were never restored. In connection with
the formation of Alexandra Parade, planned in 1869, Molen-
dinar burn was arched over, and the hollow, which included
the sites of the two mills, was filled up. The dam of the
Subdean mills, especially in hot weather, had latterly become
objectionable, and from 1855 onwards various attempts were
made to dispose of the property. An opportunity for closing
the mill and covering over the offensive water-course occurred
in 1874, when the Improvements Trustees acquired the site
for the widening of Ladywell Street and other reconstruction
i62 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
purposes, and the buildings were removed about that time.
Provan-mill, with its water-wheel driven by the " Malyn-
doner " as of old, though for other purposes than the grinding
of grain, is now the sole survivor of those possessions which
in other days and under other conditions formed the back-
bone of city finance.
XI.
EARLY CUSTOMS AND TAXATIONS
THE code of burgh laws, sanctioned by Royal authority
and believed to be in operation in Scotland as early
as the twelfth century, owes much of its completeness to the
late period at which burghal institutions became general in
this country. In England, where burghs had been established
from a time long anterior to the Norman Conquest, legislation
had necessarily proceeded piecemeal. Our great lawgiver,
King David I., who was on intimate and friendly terms with
southern magnates, and familiar with their modes of govern-
ment, had the opportunity of lifting this statutory accumulation
in a body and adopting so much of it as was applicable to
the peculiar needs of his northern kingdom. By this time a
burgh retained little of the significance implied by the original
" burg," a stronghold. The military side was no doubt
represented by the castle, which was still a distinguishing
feature in the equipment of a royal burgh, but greater
prominence was gradually being given to the market, with its
facilities not only for the encouragement of commerce but
also for the collection of revenue. In subsidiary burghs,
such as those which lords of regality, spiritual or temporal,
were empowered to establish, the market was the main, if
not the only, essentiality. When King David authorised
1 64 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
the canons of Holyrood to have a burgh between their
Church and his burgh of Edinburgh, provision was made
for their burgesses buying and selling their wares as freely
as the king's own burgesses ; and by the charter under
which the Bishops of Glasgow were allowed to establish a
burgh the leading privileges are a weekly market, with all
the freedoms and customs pertaining to royal burghs. A
regality was in many respects a miniature kingdom, and in the
case of a regality burgh its lord was entitled to exact customs
on goods coming to his market similar to those which the
king received on goods sold in the market of a royal burgh.
At first the king's own officers collected the customs
direct, but from an early period the more convenient practice
of letting these to the community of a burgh, in consideration
of a yearly fixed rent, was generally followed. In this way
any surplus was appropriated by the burgh, and applied on
public works ; and as the usual tendency was toward develop-
ment of trade and proportionate increase of customs, while
the rent remained stationary, considerable revenue was
frequently derived from this source. A similar course was
often adopted in burghs of regality, but there are no extant
records or accounts to show how long the bishops of
Glasgow collected the customs direct, or under what circum-
stances the customs were leased to the magistrates. In
1449-50, when Renfrew and Rutherglen were enjoined not
to hinder their burgesses from frequenting Glasgow market,
in " prejudice to the privilege and custum grantyd to the
Kirk of Glasgow of auld tyme," and were forbidden to take
toll or custom within the barony, it may be inferred that
the bishops rather than the magistrates had the main interest
in the revenues.^ It is not till the year 1573-4 that we
^ Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. p. 27.
EARLY CUSTOMS AND TAXATIONS 165
have definite particulars on the subject. At that time " the
casualiteis of the mercatt callit the ladill," were drawn by
the community, and were, for a rent of £12,0 Scots, let to a
tacksman, who that year got a rebate of ;^io to make up for
" tinsell." 1 About this time the burgh of Rutherglen
claimed exemption from the imposition, but in 1575 the
Supreme Court refused the claim, and found that the com-
munity of Glasgow were entitled to exact " ane ladill full of
all cornis and victuale of ilk sek cumand to the mercat of
the burgh," the proceeds being expended on " sowping and
clangeing of thair calsay." The "ladill full " is stated to
be " neir " the fourth-part of a peck.^ To incur liability for
ladle duty grain required to be brought into the burgh, and
it happened that on the lands of Wester Craigs, on the east
side of the Molendinar Burn, were " divers and sindry killis
quhairof the awnaris byis mekill beir and bringis to thame
furth of the cuntrey about the towne, nocht being presentit
to the marcate, quhairthrow the firmararis and havearis of the
said laidill wantis the dewitie thairof." To secure duty on
the grain which was thus withheld from the town's market,
the magistrates in 1592, arranged with Sir Matthew Stewart
of Minto, proprietor of Wester Craigs, for exaction of ladle
duty there for the next nineteen years, in consideration of a
yearly payment of ;^20.^ A few years afterwards the town
acquired from Sir Matthew's successor the mills and kilns at
Wester Craigs, and this would no doubt put an end to
further evasion from that quarter. In 1594 the burgh of
Lanark put in a claim of exemption from " ladle " duty ; but
the Convention of Burghs decided against them. Glasgow's
title to the exaction was, in 161 1, ratified by a Crown charter,
^ Glasg. Rec. i. pp. 447, 452. '^ Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. p. 164.
^ lb, ii. pp. 5-7.
1 66 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
which for the first time conveyed the burgh to the com-
munity direct, previous charters of that nature being in favour
of the prelates. The grant of 1611 included the weekly
market, with right to uplift the Customs, and the yearly
rent payable to the archbishop for the burgh and all its
privileges is stated at 16 merks Scots. ^ The revenue from
"ladles" was therefore nearly all gain, and its increase was
continuous. Taking sterling money, and omitting fractions,
the following yearly tack duties may be cited : 1631, ;^ii2 ;
1662, £162 ; 1689, ;/^222 ; 1781, ;^400. When the impost
was levied in kind, the tacksmen were supplied with the
requisite measures, as in 1644, when "the ladillars hes gottin
seavin ladils, and ther is ane new ane to be made farder to
them to mak up eight." ^ In his Annals of Glasgow, Cleland
says that the dues were chiefly collected by persons stationed
at the eight ports of the city, viz. : " The old and new
bridges, head of Jamaica Street, Cowcaddens Toll, Townhead
Toll, Whitehill Toll, Gallowgate at Calton Mouth, and the
middle of Great Hamilton Street." The dues, varying on
different kinds of grain from i-64th to i-96th part, were
levied along with a multure duty of 6d. per boll of malt
brewed within the burgh ; and both imposts, in the year
181 1, realised £1^0^ in all, eggs and butter-milk brought
£1,1 I OS., and fish and potatoes, ;{|i40. Meal and malt used
by burgesses were exempt from ladle duty, and a lower rate
was exacted for grain brought to the Broomielaw by water. ^
In the report of the Commissioners on Municipal Cor-
porations, issued in 1835, it is stated that the right to levy
from every sack of grain imported into the burgh of Glasgow
a ladle-full of the produce had been long converted into a
'^ Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 278-83. ^ Glasg. Rec. ii. pp. 57, 71.
3 Annals of Glasgozu, pp. 80-4.
EARLY CUSTOMS AND TAXATIONS 167
money-tax, and that this tax had been extended to fruit and
salt as well as meal ; but it was considered to be a very
vexatious impost, troublesome to levy and expensive to collect.
Commutation had often been considered, and, pending the
discovery of a suitable scheme, the Town Council had sus-
pended the imposition of the duty in 1834, "in consequence
of the great reduction of expenditure and of the very
favourable state of the Corporation revenue." Twelve years
afterwards the Petty Customs were finally abolished by
9 and 10 Vic, c. 289, the Act under which Gorbals, Calton,
and Anderston were included within the municipal boundaries.
To compensate the city funds for the consequent loss of
revenue, as well as to defray the additional expense of the
municipal establishment and elections, the police funds became
liable for an annual sum not exceeding £1 S^o yearly, a
contribution which has been regularly paid up to the present
time.
Besides the Petty Customs already referred to, there were
for a long time exigible in Glasgow certain dues connected
with the "tron," the establishment and management of which
have some historical interest. In former times merchandise
liable to the great Custom, payable to the Crown, could not
be legally exported without a cocket, being a certificate under
the seal of the proper ofliicer that the dues had been settled.
Lords of regality who owned burghs of export had generally
a grant of cocket, entitling them to export merchandise duty
free. The bishops of Glasgow do not appear to have had
the privilege till the year 1489-90, but on 4th January of
that year Bishop Blacader and his successors were empowered
to have a free tron for weighing the merchandise and goods
of the citizens and tenants of the barony, and it was provided
that they should have for their own use the customs of such
i68 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
merchandise and goods, causing cockets to be given thereon,
and that the citizens and tenants should be free of all other
customs in any other towns, ports, and places within the
kingdom, on showing the cockets received by them.^ The
revenues derived from this source appear to have been drawn
by the prelates, or those authorised by them, till some time
after the Reformation. In 1547 Archbishop Dunbar gave
to Henry Crawfurd, parish clerk of Cadder, a nineteen years'
tack of the tron customs, for payment of {ji\ yearly, whereof
£2Q) were assigned to the college and the remaining £^^ to the
chaplains of two altars. In 1577 Archbishop Boyd granted
to Matthew Boyd, who was tacksman at the time, a nineteen
years' tack of the " customs of the tron weights, of the firlots,
pecks, and others his customs of all boats repairing by water
to Glasgow, and all weights and customs whatsoever of the
town of all goods customable," for payment of a yearly rent
of ;^50 Scots. Four years later the same archbishop, with
consent of his chapter, mortified to the college " our customis,
of our troneis of Glasgow, great and small customes, fair or
mercat customis, or of mett measure or wecht pertaining to
us within our said cietie of Glasgow." ^ The college would
thus become entitled to the yearly tack duty, but subsequent
archbishops seem to have made some claims on the dues, and
there ensued considerable discussion regarding the ownership.
In 1 61 3 the Town Council agreed with the archbishop
for a nineteen years' tack of the tron, in consideration of a
payment of 3000 merks ; but in the following year charters
were granted by the archbishop and the college giving the
town the duties and customs of the tron in perpetuity at
the price of 4500 merks. On their part the Town Council
agreed to pay a yearly feu -duty of ^^50 Scots of old ferm,
'^ Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 83-4. ^ lb. pp. 189, 447; ii. p. 511.
EARLY CUSTOMS AND TAXATIONS 169
with £16 13s. 4d. of augmentation, making together an
annual payment of £^ lis. id. sterling.^ For some years
subsequent to 16 14 the Council records are wanting, and it
is not till 1626 that the tron revenues are known. In that
year a sum of 530 merks {£2^ 8s. lod. sterling) was realised,
and a similar amount was secured in 1631. Up till that
time what was called " the custowme of the peckis and
casualities therof" had been let along with the customs of
the tron, but in 1636 and subsequent years they were kept
distinct. In 1636 the tron was set for ^25 and the pecks
for ;^32 sterling ; in 1689, tron ^^^45, pecks _^5o. The
" pecks " were dues connected with the meal market, a
building situated between High Street and Shuttle Street.
In 1788 parts of the market granaries were converted into
a correction house, but as more commodious premises for
the latter were procured elsewhere the whole property was
sold to the College in 1792, and no substituted market seems
to have been provided." Cleland says that in 181 1 the dues
of the tron and weigh-house, then a large building at the
corner of Montrose Street and Ingram Street, partly used
as a storehouse, produced a revenue of £234.. The site of
this weigh-house was sold in 1821, and substituted accommo-
dation was acquired at the Bazaar in Candleriggs, Under
various general statutes, passed in 1824 and in subsequent
years, the supervision of weights and measures has been
organised on a plan which has superseded the old system
established in the days of the archbishops.
In the year 1571 the Town Council obtained royal authority
for uplifting an impost on herring and other fish, for the
'^ G/asg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 291-6; Glasg. Rec. i. p. 337.
2 Part of a wall of the old meal market still stands at the back of the
houses on the north side of College Street.
lyo GLASGOW MEMORIALS
special purpose of repairing and maintaining their bridge over
the Clyde, a structure which was even at that early time
getting old and decayed.^ This tax, which was continued
and augmented from time to time, and which served its
purpose till superseded by modern devices, rose from 80
merks in 1574 to 2800 merks {£iS5 sterling) in 1758, about
which time additional bridge accommodation became necessary.
For some years before 1690, when the Town Council
obtained authority to elect their own magistrates, the city
debt had been gradually accumulating, and it was hopeless
to expect a clearance by means of the ordinary revenues.
King James VII., in the second last year of his reign,
authorised the Town Council to levy a yearly tax on ale,
wine, and other liquors, for the space of nineteen years, but
there was opposition to its collection, and in consequence of
the troubles which immediately ensued it is probable that
little profit was got from the " gift," the procuring of which
cost more than ^^looo sterling.^ A similar grant of a more
durable nature was embodied in an Act of Parliament, dated
15th June, 1693. The preamble of this Act refers to the
loyalty of the citizens " since the late happy Revolution," the
great debts and burdens of the town " occasioned by the
malversation of the former magistrates, whereby that once
flourishing place is like to be brought to outer ruine," and
the desirability of the town being relieved and its debts paid.
To effect this object Parliament authorised the imposition
of two pennies Scots on each pint of ale or beer brewed,
sold, or brought within the town and its suburbs, for the
space of thirteen years from the following November. Besides
payment of their own debt, the magistrates were directed to
^Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. p. 146.
^Ib. ii. p. 229; Glasg. Rec. iii. p. 395-7.
EARLY CUSTOMS AND TAXATIONS 171
provide out of the proceeds of the impost a sufficient
tolbooth for detaining persons sent to them by the bailie of
the regality and for holding his courts.^ At the start a
tacksman got a three years' lease of the dues for payment
of /^i8oo sterling yearly, but the arrangement apparently
fell through, as they were again exposed to public roup in
1695, when, nobody making a suitable offer, the Town
Council retained the collection in their own hands. Though
originally granted for only thirteen years, the impost was
kept up by Continuation Acts till 1839, in which year the
net proceeds amounted to £1262.
Previous to the passing of the Poor Law Act of i 845 the
magistrates of Glasgow, in accordance with the usual practice
of royal burghs, assessed the inhabitants for the support of
the poor. This assessment, as reported by the Municipal
Commissioners in 1835, averaged over ;^8ooo yearly. The
only other municipal tax of old standing was the cess, con-
sisting of an annual payment to government of £212^, which
sum was raised from the inhabitants by a tax to the extent
of three-fourths on real property, the remainder being laid
on trade. Cess was originally contributed by royal burghs
in consideration of their enjoying the exclusive privilege of
trade, and as such monopolies ceased long ago, the burghs, a
few years ago, succeeded in stopping the further collection of
the tax. A new tax, the police assessment, was begun in
1800, but with it, and the many other rates of more recent
invention, Glasgow people are kept sufficiently familiar by
the annual issue of collectors' billets, and the subject need
not be further referred to here.
^ G/asg. Chart, ii. pp. 249-51.
XII.
THE BURGH COURT
IN England, whence they were imported into this country,
burgh Moots or Courts are traced in the tenth century.
Treating of their origin, Professor Maitland says : " Our
oldest laws seem to know no * burh ' other than the strong
house of a great (but he need not be a very great) man.
Early in the tenth century, however, the word had already
acquired a new meaning. In ^Ethelstan's day (925-40) it
seems to be supposed by the legislator that a moot will
usually be held in a burh. If a man neglects three sum-
monses to a moot, the oldest men of the burh are to ride
to his place and seize his goods. Already a burh will have
many men in it. Some of them will be elder-men (aldermen).
A moot will be held in it. Very possibly this will be the
shire-moot, for, since there is riding to be done, we see
that the person who ought to have come to the moot may
live at a distance. A little later the burh certainly has
a moot of its own. Edgar (959-75) bids his subjects
seek the hurh-gemot as well as the scyr-gemot and the
hundred-gemot. The borough-moot is to be held thrice a
year. At least from this time forward the borough has a
Court."
THE BURGH COURT 173
Again, speaking of a period when the system had reached
a farther stage of development, the same author remarks :
" In the great and ancient boroughs, the boroughs which
stand out as types and models, there was from a very
remote time a court, a borough-moot or portman-moot, a
unit in a national system of courts. Of the form that the
borough court took we can say little. Perhaps at first it
would be an assembly of all the free burg-men or port-men.
As its business increased in the large boroughs, as it began
to sit once a week instead of thrice a year, a set of persons
bound to serve as doomsmen may have been formed, a set
of aldermen or lawmen whose offices might or might not
be hereditary, might or might not run with the possession
of certain specific tenements." ^
In consequence of the earliest extant ms. of any portion
of the burgh laws of Scotland not going further back than
the thirteenth century, it cannot be definitely asserted that
the code so long attributed to David I. belongs to his reign.
Still, as this country had the opportunity of profiting by the
experience gained in England during a probation of two
centuries, it is possible that by the middle of the twelfth
century there had been put together the substance of that
body of burgh laws and customs regarding which Professor
Cosmo Innes has expressed the opinion that no other so
ancient and so well authenticated exists in the world.
Among the Burgh Court regulations contained in this old
collection of laws is one requiring each burgess to attend
the three head courts to be held at Michaelmas, Yule, and
" Pasche " or Easter, yearly, this being in accordance with
English custom. Ordinary courts were to be held once a
fortnight for the disposal of civil cases as well as punishment
^Domesday Book and Beyond, pp. 185, 210-1,
174 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
of transgressors ; all pleas among burgesses were to be tried
in their own court, and burgesses were to be judged only
by their peers [pares)}
Institutional writers on the law of Scotland have remarked
that royal burghs had as extensive a civil jurisdiction within
burgh as the sheriff had in his territory, but in Glasgow
Sheriff Courts were not introduced till a comparatively
modern date. Previous to 1748, when the Act abolishing
hereditary jurisdictions came into operation, the bailie of the
regality performed in and around Glasgow the functions
which in an ordinary shire fell to the sheriff. In his history,
published in 1736, M'Ure says that the Duke of Montrose
was then heritable bailie, and that he or his deputies, sitting
three times a week during the session, held the Regality
Court in the Justice Court Hall of the city. Apart from
the Diocesan Court, over which the archdeacons, or the
judges styled officials, presided, the Regality Court was
doubtless the oldest tribunal connected with Glasgow, having
subsisted from that remote period when the bishops of
Glasgow first became territorial lords. The Burgh Court
itself may be regarded as coeval with the foundation
of the burgh in the twelfth century, though no part of its
proceedings for the first hundred years has been preserved.
The earliest extant reference to the court, contained in a
charter granted between the years 1280-90, illustrates the
care taken to prevent burgesses from alienating their heritage
to the prejudice of their heirs. In this charter it is set
forth that a burgess, on the plea of extreme need for relief
of his poverty, was allowed to sell his land, but only with
consent of his wife and heir and after it had been offered
to his nearest relations and friends " in the Court of Glasgow,
^Ancient Laws, pp. 6, 19, 37, 177.
THE BURGH COURT 175
at three head Courts of the year and at other Courts often,
according to the law and custom of the burgh." ^ Another
charter, granted in 1293, narrates a gift of land to St. Mary's
light in the Cathedral, and the ceremony of investiture took
place in presence of the bailies and citizens assembled in the
courts of the burgh.^ In these cases only the bare result
is stated, and it is not till about 200 years later that we have
a fragment of actual court procedure. It appears that the
vicars of the choir in the Cathedral were entitled to an
annual rent payable from a tenement on the south side of
Ratonraw, but it had fallen into arrear, and the tenement
was waste and ruinous, " destitut of all bigging and repara-
cion," with no rents to attach, and the vicars could only
secure their own by entering into possession of the property.
This was accomplished after public investigation into the
facts, conducted with much formality in four successive head
courts of the burgh, " haldyn in the Tolbuth " by the provost
and bailies. These courts, in accordance with the old law,
followed the three feasts of Yule, Pasche, and Michaelmas,
and were held on the fourth Tuesday of January, first
Tuesday of April, and second Tuesday of October, respec-
tively.^ When the regular series of records begins in 1573-4
the Yule Court was held on the third Tuesday of January,
the next court being connected with a movable feast varied
in different years, and the third or Michaelmas Court con-
tinued on the second Tuesday of October. The record of
each court begins with the formula "the sutis callit," meaning
that the burgesses were called to give " suit " or attendance
and to act as an inquest or jury if required. Courts were
held at frequent intervals, weekly or oftener, as occasion
'^Glasg. Chart, i. pt. li. p. 17. ^Ib. p. 20.
^Ib. p. 66 (1477-9).
176 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
required, one or more of the magistrates presiding, and some-
times about a dozen cases being disposed of at a sitting. The
earliest ejectment case noticed in the printed records is at the
instance of the Earl of Eglinton against tenants of his property
in Drygate, probably that which was at one time the manse of
the parson of Douglas, and subsequently occupied as a correction
house.^ Criminal as well as civil cases came before the court,
in conformity with the common law under which magistrates
of a royal burgh had the care of the king's peace within their
bounds, and were entitled to repress, by suitable punishments,
transgressors against the quiet or good order of the town.
As the printed records show, Glasgow had a sprinkling of
quarrelsome people, both male and female, who caused dis-
turbance by " rugging " each other's hair, " stryking with
ane quhinger," attacking with a " drawin suerd," " casting
stanes," and blaspheming, and the supervision of these restless
people required some attention from the court. In civil
affairs, such as those relating to debts and questions of
possession among the inhabitants, not encroaching on the
privileges of the Bishop's Court, the magistrates claimed
exclusive jurisdiction. Acting on this view, the bailies on
one occasion fined a burgess for appealing one of their
decisions to the Bishop's Court "for caus ilk juge suld put
his awn sentence till executione." This was in the year
1 5 10, when the Earl of Lennox (who three years afterwards
fell at Flodden) was Provost, and he maintained before the
Chancellor and Official-General that no citizen was entitled
to summon another before a spiritual judge-ordinary respecting
a matter which could be competently decided in the Burgh
Court ; but ultimately the dispute was arranged by the
Provost, on behalf of himself and the citizens, renouncing
1 Glasg. Rec. i. p. 1 6,
THE BURGH COURT 177
all statutes, if any were made by them, against the liberty
and jurisdiction of Holy Mother Church, promising never to
put them into execution in time to come.^ Courts were
lucrative, and recipients of the fines and fees did not care
to see these going into another channel. In 1605 the magis-
trates of Glasgow agreed that in future the fines which they
were entitled to should be applied to the common use of the
town. Among the purposes to which the fines were from
time to time applied are noticed donations to the poor,
putting prentices to trades, the purchase of a bell for Trongait
steeple, putting windows in Blackfriars Church, and defraying
the expenses of " ane denner on the day of the electioune
of the magistratis." In 1674 the fines amounted to
ijid^ I2S. 8d.^
An entry in the printed records in 1684 narrates "the
great clamouris made by the touns people by the abuses
committed be the lait magistratis these few yeiris past, by
decerning severall persons to pay debtis and sowmes of
money to others, and extorting and exacting fynes from
severall of them without using any probatioune or decern-
ing any formall sentence against them in publict court,
far contrair to the law and practique of the burgh."
To remedy this grievance the Town Council directed that
no burgh magistrate, Gorbals bailie, or water bailie should
have power to fine any transgressors except by bringing
them before a public court, using legal probation, and giving
a formal sentence against them.^ Of the court books in
which the judicial proceedings are entered nearly 300 volumes
are still preserved, indicating that as a general rule due
formality was observed. With reference to the Gorbals
'^Dm. Rec. Prot. Nos. 498, 503. ^G/asg. Rec. Hi. p. 184.
^Ib. pp. 368, 383.
M
178 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
and water bailies, it may be mentioned that the Baronial Court
of Gorbals was kept up till the district was annexed to
Glasgow in 1846. The Court of the Bailie of the River
and Firth of Clyde, existing long before, but formally
sanctioned and confirmed by the city's great charter of 1636,
differs from the ordinary burgh courts in several respects,
OLD BARONIAL MANSION, GORBALS.
and chiefly in the area of its jurisdiction, which in ordinary
maritime cases extends from Glasgow to the Clochstane,
and for enforcement of the Pilot Board regulations as far
as the Cumbraes. Previous to 1852 both civil and criminal
causes were brought before this court, but since that year
the former branch of judicial procedure has fallen into
abeyance, while, on the other hand, the naval developments
of recent years have added to the court's activities in dealing
with crimes and offences.
THE BURGH COURT 179
Burgh Courts are what are called courts of record, that is
to say, deeds can be recorded there for preservation and
execution. The original deeds are retained in the burgh
repositories, and extracts given out by the Town-Clerk bear
equal faith with the originals, and also have, where applicable,
the full force of decrees pronounced in judicial proceedings.
In Glasgow many thousands of these recorded deeds are
preserved, and the number is still being augmented, though
on account of variations in legal practice few additions have
been made in recent years. Another branch of court pro-
cedure, viz., the service of heirs, whereby an heir made up
a title to his ancestor's heritage, after evidence was led
before a jury or inquest of fifteen persons, fell into desuetude
in consequence of an Act of Parliament passed in i860
altering the mode of completing titles to burgage property.
Previous to 1772 written pleadings were competent in
the Burgh Court, however small the debt might be, but in
that year the Town Council established a court for the disposal
of claims not exceeding 20s., a limit which was latterly
advanced to 40s., with a minimum of 5s. The new pro-
cedure was applicable only to cases in which both litigants
were alive, the debtor in a defended action had to appear
personally, and after hearing sworn evidence the presiding
magistrate summarily disposed of the case. This court, in
which reference to oath formed a distinguishing feature, was
usually called the Conscience Court. It was held on each
Monday. The ordinary court for the disposal of cases
involving personal obligations to pay or perform to any
extent, in which procedure was conducted by procurators in
writing, was held each Friday, except during Court of Session
vacation, when monthly sittings sufficed. For cases of
urgency a Summary Court was held any lawful day without
i8i5.
1832.
1658
389
608
372
1053
243
180 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
stated diets. The " Convene or Small Debt Court," for
claims not exceeding los., was held each Tuesday and
Thursday, and here the presiding bailie gave his decision off-
hand, no assessor being present and no record being kept.
The following abstract indicates the business disposed of in
the Burgh Courts tor the years 1815 and 1832, respectively :
Town or Bailie Court, -
Summary Court,
Inferior or Monday Court,
Convene or Small Debt Court
(estimated by Dr. Cleland), - 1560 —
In 1 8 15, 720 criminal cases were disposed of by the bailies
acting under the common law, in addition to 8452 cases
decided by the sitting magistrate in the Police Office, under
the authority of the local Police Act. In 1832 the common
law cases had fallen to 172, and in 1845 the diet book comes
to a close.
The marked diminution in the number of civil cases had
been brought about by the operation of an Act of Parliament,
passed in 1829, giving special facilities for the disposal of
small debt claims in the Sheriff Court, and the more effective
Act of 1837 finished off the "Monday" court altogether,
the last case having been called on March 13th of that year.
Other branches of Burgh Court procedure were likewise
affected by this legislation, emphasised as it was by the
Royal Commissioners on the Scottish Law Courts, who in
1834 had recommended the transference to the sheriffs of
the jurisdiction then exercised by burgh magistrates. No
special abolition of burghal jurisdiction has been carried,
but by a process of absorption almost the whole business
THE BURGH COURT
i8i
formerly transacted in the Burgh Court has gradually passed to
the Sheriff Court, and in 1870 Royal Commissioners dealing
with the subject could report that " the jurisdiction of
Burgh Courts in civil causes has become practically obsolete,
CITY AND COUNTY BUILDINGS.
except in applications for aliment under the act of grace
and for liberation of civil prisoners on bills of health and in
cases of removing of tenants." To this it may be added
that since the abolition of imprisonment for debt in 1881,
the applications for aliment and liberations are few and far
between, so that the business of the court is now almost
wholly confined to the removal of tenants, the cases in
which department number about twenty thousand in a year.
XIII.
QUEEN'S PARK AND THE OLD CAMP
A PICTURE post-card recently on sale in Crossbill has
a pretty view of a bit of the old camp in Queen's
Park, but its lettering, " Scene of Battle of Langside,"
indicates that, notwithstanding the accessibility of accurate
information,^ and the publicity afforded by monumental
inscription and street nomenclature, an old error which was
prevalent two hundred years ago has not lost its vitality.
William Dunlop, Principal of Glasgow College (i 690-1 700)
and royal historiographer for Scotland, wrote a descrip-
tion of Renfrewshire, in which he stated that the battle was
fought at the " old camp on the top of the hill," ^ and this
observation was quoted with approval in George Crawford's
Description of the Shire, published in 1710.^ The writer of
the Old Statistical Account of the Parish (c. 179 1-5) says that
" by the common people the place is called Queen Mary's
camp," but he himself favours the opinion of some historians
that it was constructed by the Romans.* When writing the
New Statistical Account (1845), ^^^ ^^^^ ^^- Smith likewise
assumed that Roman garrisons had occupied the encampment,
lE.g. The Battle of Langside, by A. M. Scott (1885).
^Lanark and Renfrew, p. 146. ^Renfrew Collections, p. 7.
* Old Statistical Account, v. pp. 34.8-9.
QUEEN'S PARK AND OLD CAMP 183
and even assigned a position to the praetorium or general's
tent.^ Roman camps, however, v^^ere almost always rect-
angular, while this one is circular. There is nothing to
show that the site lay in the line of march, and no Roman
relics, so far as is known, have been found in the vicinity.
The camp apparently belongs to the well-known type of
British forts of which numerous examples are to be found
throughout the country. Such forts were usually composed
of two or more concentric circles, consisting of ramparts and
trenches ; but at Camphill the outer rampart, measuring about
400 yards in circumference, is all that can now be traced,
unless the rising ground at the north-west corner, which
Dr. Smith supposed to be the praetorium, may be the remains
of another rampart. Probably enough the inner surface of
the camp was levelled, ploughed, and cropped before the
existing full-grown trees were planted. A number of large
stones now lying about may, according to the common
method, have formed part of the demolished works. One
huge boulder has been blown in pieces by explosives, the
bores in some of the fragments being quite distinct. Dr.
Smith gives seven feet as the height of the rampart on its
outer side, and four feet as its width at the top, and states
that it was " still very perfect." It is now broken down in
some places, and for a considerable distance towards the north-
east has almost wholly disappeared. The width at the base
appears to have been about 20 feet. Before being worn
away by exposure to the weather, the height would much
exceed seven feet, and in its effective condition the top
would be palisaded. The interior, whether supplied with
other fortifications or not, would be partly occupied by
houses suitable for the accommodation of the garrison. The
'^ Nezv Statistical Account (Renfrewshire), pp. 502-3.
1 84 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
period of construction may have been any one of several
centuries preceding the introduction of Norman keeps.
It is in more out-of-the-way corners of Clydesdale that such
prehistoric fortifications have had a better chance of survivance.
One of the most interesting of these is the mote situated
between the public road and the river Clyde, about a mile
north of Abington village. When Mr. Vere Irving was
compiling the archaeological section of The Upper Ward of
Lanarkshire, published in 1864, an excavation of the mound
to the depth of six feet disclosed a layer of wood charcoal,
mixed with animal remains, and this was supposed to indicate
a sepulchral origin, though latterly a fortress was evolved.
Mr. Irving gives a ground plan of the whole earthwork,
and concisely describes it as consisting of a " considerable
mount," partially natural and partially artificial, rising abrupt
from the bank of the Clyde, and surrounded by a ditch on
the land side. From this projects a rampart and ditch in
the form of a horse-shoe, which is evidently of later con-
struction, and is entered by two gates on its opposite
sides. In his work on Early Fortifications in Scotland^ Dr.
Christison mentions that the flat top of the mound measures
about 70 by 35 feet, that it rises 30 feet above the river,
but only about 6 feet above the " somewhat horse-shoe
shaped base-court, which measures about 240 by 180
feet. The rampart round this court is shown in the plan
of 1864 as in an almost perfect condition ; and, though in
some places slightly broken down, it remained fairly com-
plete till the summer of 1905, when, by a deplorable
mistake, a slap of about 12 feet was made in its north side.
A section of the broken rampart was thus exposed to view,
measuring in the centre about 4 feet in height, and tapering
on each side to the base, which is about 20 feet wide. Part
QUEEN'S PARK AND OLD CAMP 185
of the displaced material, consisting of boulders, gravel, and
turf, was displaced, and some of the earth was used for
binding road metal under pressure of the steam roller ; but,
on the initiative of the council of the Glasgow Archaeological
Society, the county authorities gave instructions which will
prevent the recurrence of a similar mishap.
Situated on the top of a hill which rises about 700 feet
from its base, the ancient fortification called Arbory Fort is
safe from such dangers as those which befel its neighbour,
the Abington Mote, on the opposite side of the Clyde.
Had the relative positions of the mote and fort been
reversed, one might conceive how the broken-down interior
wall of the latter, consisting of an immense pile of gathered
whinstone, would sooner or later have been transferred to
the stonebreaker's heap. Luckily this particular fort is largely
exempt from the usual risks of its class, except weather-
wearing, and is in a state of wonderfully good preservation.
The stone wall, which must originally have been of con-
siderable height, occupied the peak of the hill, enclosing a
circular space of 135 feet in diameter, and it was surrounded
on the slopes by two concentric trenches, furnished with
ramparts, all of which earthworks are still conspicuous. The
whole fortification covers an irregularly shaped circular area
upwards of 400 feet in diameter. Through the stone wall
only one opening appears. The inner rampart has three
openings and the outer four, but none of these entrances
being opposite to each other, the interior could only be
reached by a zigzag course. A peculiarity of Arbory Fort
is its great height, being 1406 feet above sea level, an altitude
which, according to Dr. Christison, is exceeded by only seven
other forts in this country. It is probable that such an
inconvenient perch was selected in warlike times and for
i86 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
aggressive purposes. As an outpost of an invading force
it would be invaluable, for there is reason to believe that
a small garrison might have been able to hold it against
superior numbers so long as provisions lasted. For these
reasons, as well as on linguistic grounds, the suffix *' bory "
being recognisable as a form of the Saxon " burh," the
construction and early occupation of the fort may plausibly
be attributed to Saxon invaders, with whom in the days of
old the Strathclyde Britons had many a tough contest.
Though deprived of such protection as Arbory Fort
possesses by its isolated position, the remains of the old
fort at Camphill, as now railed in and protected, are safe
from further serious dilapidation. To previous owners,
likewise, some credit is due for preserving so much of its
original character. These owners may, with some degree
of certainty, be traced from the date of the first King
David's grant of " Kerkert " to Walter the Steward.
From the Steward the noble family of Cathcart is believed
to have attained the principal lands in the parish. In 1543
Lord Cathcart sold that estate to a brother of Lord Sempill.
John Blair of Blair, who married a daughter of Lord Sempill
about the year 1565, may have acquired that part of the
Langside lands which included the fort, as his descendants
are found in possession in 16 10. In 161 5 Bryce Blair sold
these lands to James Hamilton of Akinheid, whose descendants
possessed them for several generations. In 1786 the lands
had come into the possession of Robert Crawford of Possil,
who in that year feued to Thomas Crawford, a Glasgow
merchant, the portion called Camphill Farm, including the
camp. Twelve years afterwards Thomas Crawford sold the
farm to Robert Thomson, manufacturer in Glasgow. Neale
Thomson, merchant in Glasgow, acquired the property in
QUEEN'S PARK AND OLD CAMP 187
1853, his trustees sold it to the governors of Hutchesons'
Hospital in 1866, and twenty-eight years later it was purchased
by the Corporation of Glasgow and added to the Queen's
Park.
In title deeds it is usual to describe lands by the old
valuation, or "extent," as it is called, a valuation which
in most cases goes back to at least the thirteenth century.
Precise area is not to be looked for in this mode of
description, but a pound land is taken as approximately
representing 52 acres. The division of Langside, which
included the camp, was a £() los. land, bounded on the
east by a 6 merk los. land, and it happens that if the
boundary between the two divisions had continued in a
straight line it would have intersected the camp ; but it
curved eastward along the outer edge of the rampart, thus
leaving about one half of the camp protruding into the
adjoining property. Old hedges along the south and north
approaches to the camp still indicate the original boundary
at these parts. The east property, the most of which is
now included in the Queen's Park, belonged of old to the
Abbey of Dunfermline. At what date the abbey acquired
it has not been ascertained ; but as it is known that
Walter, the owner of Cathcart in King David's reign,
bestowed on the abbey a toft in the burgh of Renfrew,
it is not improbable that lands in the shire were given
at the same time. The abbey lands in Cathcart parish
extended to both sides of the river Cart, and were conveyed
by James Betoun, Archbishop of St. Andrews and Com-
mendator of Dunfermline, to the Earl of Eglinton by a
charter dated 22nd July, 1527. In that charter the lands
are described as the £c^ land called Newlands, the 6 merk
I OS. land of Langside, and the 5 merk land called Taggart
1 88 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
land (or Tolgartlie) and Murlie, in the lordship of
Cathcart.i Taggart in Gaelic signifies priest, and Taggart
(or Priest) land may thus have been so named in con-
sequence of its connection with the church of Dunfermline.
In subsequent title deeds the name was transformed into
Tankerland. Muirlie, probably signifying moor lea, has
been perpetuated in Merrylee, a familiar place-name in
Glasgow's southern suburb, but Newlands and Langside
have retained their original form. The superiority of the
6 merk land of Langside has remained with the Earls of
Eglinton, but the property itself was in the possession of
their feuars, the Maxwells of Pollok, for about a hundred
years previous to 1854, when Sir John Maxwell sub-feued
the portion called Pathhead to Mr. Neale Thomson, of
Camphill, from whom it was, in 1857, acquired by the
Town Council of Glasgow and laid out as a public park
and recreation ground.
1 Reg. Mag. Sig. iii. No. 482.
XIV.
THE BLACK FRIARS AND GREY FRIARS IN
GLASGOW
CRAIGMAK AND GLASGOW FAIR
THE rise of the order of Friars following the rule of
St. Dominic, usually called the Preaching or Black
Friars, and the establishment of one of their convents in
Glasgow, belong to the first half of the thirteenth century.
According to tradition " thair Place in Glasgw wes biggit
and foundit be the Bischop and Cheptour." The precise
date is not known, but it must have been in or before
1246, because there is a bull of Pope Innocent dated loth
July of that year, granting forty days' indulgence to all the
faithful who should contribute to the completion of the
church and other edifices which the Friars Preachers of
Glasgow had begun to build. The site chosen lay midway
between the Cathedral and the Market Cross, and on the
east side of the thoroughfare between these points. In
1270 a house bequeathed by Robert of Lanark, subdean of
Glasgow, to the vicars in the Cathedral is described as lying
next to the Friars Preachers in the town of Glasgow.^
^ " My house, with croft and all pertinents, which I have bought from Philip,
the fuller, who held the same of me ; which house is situated next to the
I90 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
This house, if it remained with the vicars, appears to have
lain on the south side of the Friars' place, as Sir Gavin of
Hamilton, provost of the collegiate church of Bothwell, in
or before 1454, gave the friars the use of a tenement on
the north side of their kirk, with four acres of land in
Dowhill, on condition that the tenement and land might be
resumed at any time. Resumed both tenement and land
must have been shortly afterwards, and having come into
the possession of James, the first lord Hamilton, he, in
1460, conveyed them to the Principal Regent of the Faculty
of Arts in the newly founded University, and his successors,
thus providing the site on which the College buildings were
subsequently erected.^
According to their original constitution, the Dominicans
renounced all worldly possessions, and had to rely on
voluntary alms for their support. These conditions were
eventually relaxed, and at the time of the Reformation
Glasgow friars were possessed of considerable endowments,
which eventually came into the possession of Glasgow
College, along with the parchments forming the title deeds.
A selection from these writs was published by the Maitland
Club in 1846, in a volume edited by Dr. Joseph Robertson,
Friars Preachers in the town of Glasgow, between the said Friars and the
house of William of Bellidstane " {Reg. Episc. No. 220). By a subsequent
but undated charter, Alan, sacristan of the church of Glasgow, granted to
Sir John of Carrick, chaplain of the parish of Glasgow, " that land which
was then vacant, with all its pertinents, lying within the burgh of Glasgow,
opposite the Friars Preachers, in length and breadth, between the lands of
Malcolm called Scot on the north and the vennel of the said Friars on
the south" {lb. No. 254). This is not unlike a description of property
on the west side of High Street, part of which was subsequently occupied
by the Franciscan Friars.
"^ Munimenta, i. pp. 9, 14.
BLACK FRIARS AND GREY FRIARS 191
whose preface embodies a most valuable contribution to the
history of Glasgow/ Among the printed documents is a
charter by David de Cadioch," precentor of the church of
Glasgow, who gave to the Friars Preachers 28 anualrents, in
sums varying from 8d. to £1 4s., and amounting to 12 merks
yearly in all. The purpose of the endowment is stated to be
the celebration of religious services at the altar of the Virgin
Mary, in the Friars' Church, but reference is made to a
deed of foundation for particulars. The charter is dated
loth May, 1454,^ and the deed of foundation, which is still
preserved, was granted on the ist of the same month.
After the usual solemn invocation, and an avowal of the
regard entertained by the donor for the friars, with his
^ Lib. Col. pp. XXXV. et seq.\ 147-231.
2 David de Cadow or Cadioch was a canon of the cathedral who in
1 440- 1 presided over the judicial business in Glasgow diocese, and in
subsequent years held the office of " precentor," having charge of the
choral arrangements of the cathedral. He was the first Rector of the
University, and one of its earliest benefactors. On the occasion of his
re-election in 1460, he gave 20 nobles to procure a rod of office, and
with that sum and other contributions the mace which is still in use at
the University was purchased. Cadyow had apparently the art of accumu-
lating money, and he invested largely in heritable securities in the form
of annual rents. Some of these revenues, to the extent of 12 merks yearly,
he in 1463-4 bestowed as an endowment for a clerk in the Faculty of
Canon law, whose duty it was to read in the public schools within the
city " as was the custom of other universities," and he was also required
to celebrate a daily mass for the soul of the donor, at the altar of the
Virgin Mary in the crypt of the cathedral {Mmimenta, i. p. 17 ; ii. p. 68).
The rector read at least some of his lectures in canon law in the chapter-
house of the Friars Preachers, and it was probably on account of the
friendly relationships existing between the college authorities and the friars
that the latter obtained the benefaction noticed in the text.
^ Lib. Col. pp. 173-6.
192 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
desire for the more efficient celebration of divine service,
the deed of foundation sets forth that the endowment was
to be applied towards the maintenance of the friars and the
repair of their church and place, and it was specially
provided that the prior and convent should cause one of
the brethren to celebrate a daily mass, at the altar of our
Lady, about the hour of seven in the morning. Before
beginning the mass the great bell of the church was to be
tolled, and after the offertory the De Profundis was to be
said, with prayers and orisons " for the souls of the said
Master David, his parents, friends, and benefactors, living and
dead, and specially for the souls of all those who repose in
this holy place." It was also stipulated that on each Saturday,
immediately after vespers, the prior and convent should
assemble before the image of the Virgin Mary, at the same
altar, which was to be lighted with a wax candle, and there
engage in devotional exercises, including the singing of
Salve Regina. On the day of the donor's death (which,
it may be noted, occurred on 19th August, 1467), and
on each anniversary thereof, the prior and convent were
required to sing Placebo and Dirige^ and on the morrow
to celebrate a mass for the deceased benefactor and his
friends. On these latter occasions the hand-bell of St.
Kentigern, or another if it could not be got, was to be
tolled through the town, that the ceremonies might be more
imposing.
Apart from the main purpose of the foundation deed, it
has also an accessory interest. For its better authentication,
and as a guarantee for fulfilment of the conditions, three
seals were appended. The first was that of David Raite,
vicar-general of the order of Friars Preachers of Scotland ;
the second was the common seal of the Glasgow convent ;
CITY OF GLASGOW.
KKGENT MORTON.
■■^H-.
INSCRIPTION.
LORD HAMILTON.
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SCOTLAND.
r.ISHOP TURN BULL.
COATS OF ARMS OF IHK .M.\CK OF THK UNIVFIRSriA'
OF GLASGOW.
macf: of itik
UNI\KRSri'V OF (iLASGOW,
BLACK FRIARS AND GREY FRIARS 193
and the third, which has disappeared, was the common seal
of the city. Raite's seal is lettered: " S. Vicarii Fratrvm
Ordinis Predicatorvm Scoci." — seal of the Vicar of the
order of Friars Preachers of Scotland. It is thus described :
Within a canopied niche a full-length figure of St. Andrew
holding upon the dexter side his cross, which has a star
between the upper extremities. Beneath the cross is a friar
kneeling towards the saint. The background underneath
and at sides of the niche is decorated with foliage and
flowers. The seal of the friars is thus described : Within
a canopied niche a representation of the coronation of the
Virgin. The Father seated on the sinister with arched
crown and nimbus, his right hand holding up the chrism,
the Virgin seated on the dexter with open crown and
nimbus. Above is what is supposed to be the dove.
Legend : " S. Cme. Fratrv. Predicatorv. Glasg." —
common seal of the Friars Preachers of Glasgow.^ In a
charter dated 1427, David Raite is styled the King's con-
fessor and " vicar " of the order of Preachers within the
kingdom.^ As used in that charter and in the foundation
deed, vicar and vicar-general appear to be synonymous, and
it may therefore be assumed that for at least twenty-seven
years David Raite was at the head of his order in this country,
but holding his appointment from the Provincial of England.
One John Mussilbruch held the office of vicar-general in
1468, and he was succeeded in 1470 by Prior John Mure,
of Glasgow, who became Provincial when Scotland was itself
erected into a province.
In the beginning of the year 1560, a detachment of the
lords of the congregation was in Glasgow, and it is not
unlikely that the dwellings of the friars suffered from the
'^ Glasg. Chart, ii. pp. 441-4. ^ Reg. Mag. Sig. ii. No. 94.
N
194 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
rough usage which was then commonly applied to similar
buildings elsewhere. An order of the Privy Council dated
15th February, 1 561-2, after reciting the uses to which
*' the places of freris, as yet standand undemolissit," might
be applied, authorised the provosts and bailies of " Abirdene,
Elgin, Inverness, Glasgow and utheris burrowis of this
realme, quhair the samyn ar nocht demolissit, to interteny
and uphold the saidis freris places standand in the saidis
townis " for the common weal of these towns till further
instructions were given.^ This seems to indicate that one
or both of the friars' places in Glasgow still stood, though
not necessarily intact. An example of the straits to which
the expelled friars were subjected is afforded by a writing
granted by the convent of the Friars Preachers of Glasgow
to John Graham, the son of a burgess in Glasgow. In
this deed, which is dated 13th November, 1560, the dis-
persion of the order of friars is narrated, and it is stated
that without the aid rendered by Graham to the Glasgow
friars, in their extreme necessity, they could not have
sustained life ; and, therefore, in return for that aid they
granted Graham the great tenement occupied by him, with
the gardens belonging thereto, but excepting the cemetery.
A feuduty of four merks yearly was to be paid to the friars,
and it was provided that if they and their order were
restored they should be reponed in the gardens, but the
tenement was to be retained by Graham for payment of
a feuduty of three merks. This grant was subsequently set
aside on the ground of illegality,^ and the property was
^ Privy Council Reg. i. p. 202.
2 Lib. Col. pp. Ixiv-lxvii. The decree of the lords of session (7th June,
1578) annulling the grant, states that it was "maid lang efter the moneth
of August, 1559, at the quhilk tyme, and be the space of twa monthis
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BLACK FRIARS AND GREY FRIARS 195
formally transferred to the College. The " manse and
kirkrowme " of the friars, with various pieces of land and
annualrents, had already been granted to the College under
Queen Mary's charter dated 13th July, 1563. The
slezer's view of the buildings of the college and blackfriars.
remaining endowments were included in the charter by the
magistrates and council to the College in 1572-3.^
Captain Slezer's Theatrum Scotia^ first published in 1693,
contains a bird's-eye view of " The Colledge of Glasgow,"
immediately preceding, or thairby, the haill places of freris within the
realme wes demolischit and cassin downe, and the conventis quhilk maid
residence within the samin wer dispersit " (G/asg. Prot. Nos. 924, 1425).
^Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 129-30, 149-62. It was provided by the latter
charter that the regents of the College should conduct services in the
church which was " before called the church of the Friars Preachers,"
196 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
including Blackfriars Church, an oblong Gothic building
which, surrounded by burying ground, stood at the distance
of about 250 feet east of the High Street. It seems certain
that this building was to some extent of pre-Reformation
craftsmanship, but it had undergone so much patching that
the new and old were not always distinguishable. In 1574,
being only a few years after the dispersion of the friars,
" the wester ruinous gavil " was ordered to be taken down,^
and therefore it is probable that the tame end wall so con-
spicuous in Slezer's view represents not the original design
but hurried masonry put up for utility rather than archi-
tectural effect. Further repairs were going on in 1588 ; in
1625 a loft was built in the west "gavil"; and five years
later the roof was slated.^ Up till this time the church
had belonged to the College, but in 1635 ^^^ town agreed
to take it over as a city church. In the contract narrating
the transfer it is said that the Town Council had under-
taken not only '^ to re-edifie and repair," but also to
enlarge the building, which was " altogidder ruinous and
decayit."^ In 1643 George Duncan of Barrowfield gifted
money to purchase " ane bell to be hung in the stiple of
the Blackfrier Kirk," which bell was to be rung at stated
hours daily, the earliest being five in the morning and the
latest ten at night.* On account of the hard work which
the bell endured it aged rapidly, and, in 1670, was sent to
Holland " to be castine over againe." The instructions
which were then given to have the re-cast bell inscribed
^ Glasg. Rec. i. p. 9. This was in April. A burgh court was held in
" the Blackfreir Kirk, sumtym callit sua," in the following July {lb.
p. 18).
^ lb. pp. 123, 345, 372. ^ Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 359-60.
* Glasg. Rec. ii. p. 60,
BLACK FRIARS AND GREY FRIARS 197
" with the same name, armes and year of God as is
presently therwpon," ^ does not inspire confidence in the
reliability of similar testimony. The bell was returned, and
was probably rehung by the beginning of October ; but
before the end of that month a great catastrophe occurred.
In Law's Memorialls it is stated that on " October 29,
1670, there was a suddane thunderclap by seven of the
morning, that fell out at Glasgow, and lighted on the
Blackfriar Kirk, the like whereof was not heard in these
parts ; it rent the steeple of the said church from top to
bottom, and tirred the sclattes off it, and brake down the
gavills in the two ends of it, and fyred it, but was
quenched afterwards by men."^ In 1670 there were other
four churches in the city, viz., the Barony, the Inner High,
the Outer High, and the Tron ; but as many of the
inhabitants sided with the Covenanters and " dishanted
publict ordinances," these places were not overcrowded,
and no inconvenience was caused by the closing of Black-
friars, and it was not rebuilt till 1699. For a few years
preceding November, 1670, William Anderson, session clerk,
was paid a salary as precentor in the " Blackfreir Kirk,"
but on 28th October, 1671, his allowance is given for
" service as precentor in sundrie of the kirkis of this
burgh." In 1672 and the subsequent years of his pre-
centorship he officiated in the Outer High Kirk. So far
as has been noticed the last occasion on which services in
the old church are referred to was on 12th November,
1670, when a sum of ;^20 was ordered to be paid "to
Mr. Archibald Dennestoune for taking up the Psalmes in
the Blackfrier Kirk the tyme the professour keeped the
exerceis ther." Though apparently never restored, some
'^ Glasg. Rec. iii. p. 128. 2 l^vv's Memorialls, p. 33,
198
GLASGOW MEMORIALS
parts of the ruins must have stood for a considerable time,
as in the treasurer's account for the year 1688-9 there is
an expenditure o^ £12 8s. "to men for working at the
Blackfriar Kirk," besides a payment for mason work there
and elsewhere. Rebuilding was resolved upon in 1698,
when the Town Council " taking to their consideration
BLACK friars' OR COLLEGE CHURCH (FRONT VIEW) IN 1848.
that the increase of this burgh and inhabitants thereof
necessarily calls for the building of an new church therein,
and that the place where the Blackfrier Church was formerly
seems to be the most fitt part for building of the said new
church, doe therefore unanimously purpose and resolve to
go about the said building." On 27th October, 1701, it
was reported that " the building of the new church in
that place where the Blackfriers Church was formerly situate
is now perfected and finished."^
'^ MS. Council Rec. ; G/asg. Chart, ii. pp. 274-80.
BLACK FRIARS AND GREY FRIARS 199
In the letterpress descriptions given in the 1874 edition
of Slezer it is erroneously stated that the view in that
work represents the church which replaced the one destroyed
by lightning. From a sketch of the 1699 church given in
Views and Notices of Glasgow in Former Times, published in
1848, it may be seen that they are different buildings.
BLACK. FRIARS OR COLLEGE CHURCH (liACK VIEW) IN 1S4J.
Captain Slezer says that he had received encouragement
in his artistic work from King Charles II. This takes us
back to at least 1685, ^^^ seeing that the church is
depicted as entire, we may conclude that the sketch was
made in or before 1670.
In Slezer's view both college buildings and church are
represented as in a complete condition. Now, the former
were not finished before 1660, and as the church was
substantially damaged in 1670, the sketch must have been
made in the intermediate period, if it was meant as a
delineation of the buildings as they collectively existed at
200 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
any particular time. Here, however, a difficulty crops up.
On 7th March, 1657, the Town Council appointed " ane
stair to be built upone the north syd of the Blackfreir
Kirk, for macking ane entrie to the Counsell loft thair,
be ane of the windowes." About the same time the Town
Council arranged for the building of a dyke or wall on
the north side of the church. Both works were carried
out before the end of 1658, as on 13th November of that
year a mason was ordered to be paid the balance due to
him " for building of the dyck about the north syd of the
Blackfrier Kirk and ane new stair ther, laitly." ^ Slezer has
depicted the wall, but there is no sign of the stair. Unless
it had been removed — and of this there is no trace in the
records — a possible explanation is that the excrescence was
kept out of the view for the sake of artistic effect.
The Franciscan or Grey Friars, otherwise called Friars
Minors, settled in Glasgow during the episcopate of John
Laing (1473-82). About the year 14 19 a branch of the
Franciscans adopted certain reforms, calling themselves
Observantines, on account of their more strict observance
of the Founder's rule, and it was the section of the order
holding these views that acquired a residence in Glasgow.
The spot selected was situated a short distance west from
the High Street, nearly opposite the place of the Friars
Preachers, which was on the east side of the street. Access
from the High Street was obtained by a lane which
acquired the name of Greyfriars' Wynd, and is now known
as Nicholas Street. The present Shuttle Street was also
sometimes called the Greyfriars' Wynd, and it seems to
have formed the eastern boundary. Some particulars re-
garding the coming of the friars to Glasgow are ascertained
* Glasg. Rec. ii. pp. 359, 398, 409-10.
CITV ARMS INSCRIBED ON STONE OVER ENTRANCE
TO BLACKFRIARS CHURCH, 169ii.
BLACK FRIARS AND GREY FRIARS 201
from a charter of King James III. dated 21st December,
1479, whereby he confirmed to the Friars Minors, of the
Observantine Order, the sites belonging to them in Edin-
burgh, St. Andrews, and Glasgow. The Glasgow site is
stated to have been gifted by Bishop Laing and Mr.
Thomas Forsythe, rector of Glasgow.^ The ground on the
west remained the property of the bishop and rector,
respectively, and it may therefore be inferred that the site
was partly taken from the rectory or parsonage lands. In
151 1, the rector of that time, Robert Blacader, gave to
the friars a strip of ground, 20 feet in breadth, and
the bishop gave them a further strip, 22 feet in breadth,
from his lands of Ramshorn. The two strips, with the
ends joined together, extended along the western side of
the friars' property, and were stated to be given for
enlargement of their monastery, house, and yards.^ There
is very little on record bearing on the history of the
Greyfriars in Glasgow. Adhering to their original vows of
poverty, they do not seem to have possessed other lands,
and consequently had no title deeds. In the year 1539
Jerome Russel, a Grey Friar, was burned in Glasgow for
heresy, but it is supposed that he belonged to Dumfries.^
The Glasgow friars appear to have dispersed in or before
1560, and their buildings are understood to have been
destroyed about that time. One of the last references to
the friars, in their congregate capacity, is contained in an
exchequer account for the year 1559-60, where credit is
taken for two barrels of herrings delivered to the Friars
Minors of Stirling and Glasgow, by gift of King Francis
^ Reg. Mag. Sig. ii. No. 14.34.
^ Dioc. Reg. Prot. Nos. 560, 565.
3 See works of John Knox, edited by D. Laing, i. pp. 63-6.
202 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
and Queen Mary.^ After the Reformation the site of the
monastery, cemetery, and yard came into possession of the
town of Glasgow, and was disposed of in the usual way
for payment of feuduties or annualrents which, with other
church revenues, were transferred to Glasgow University.^
Adjoining the place of the Grey Friars was a piece of
rocky ground called variously Craigmak, Craigmacht or
Craignaught. The derivation of the prefix is obvious — a
ridge of whinstone running through the ground sufficiently
accounting for craig, but the remainder of the name cannot
be satisfactorily explained. At this place an open-air court
was annually held on the eve of Glasgow Fair, but how the
practice originated or why it was continued has not been
discovered. On 6th July, 1574 (being the earliest July
of which any town council records are preserved) " the
court of the burgh and citie of Glasgw " was " haldin at
Craigmak, upon the fair evin," when " the baiUies, counsale
and communite, present, ordanis everilk buyth halder to
have in reddines, within the buyth, ane halbert, jak and
steilbonet, for eschewing of sik inconvenientis that may
happin, conforme to the auld statute maid thairanent." ^
M'Ure, writing long afterwards (1736), says: "It was at
the special instance of a prior of the convent of the
Greyfriars that the fair . . . was procured, and the com-
munity of this city was so sensible of this favour, and the
advantage of that fair, or concourse of the neighbourhood
'^Exchequer Rolls, xix. p. 142,
"^ Glasg. Trot. Nos. 1217, 1370, 1374, 2242, 2291. The Sketch Plan
here reproduced is given by Mr. John Edwards, along with a valuable
article on the " Greyfriars in Glasgow," in the Scottish Historical Review,
vol. iii. pp. 179-92.
^Glasg. Rec. i. p. 18.
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204 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
of all ranks coming to the city, that every last day of
the fair, annually, they went and paid their complements
to the prior of the Grayfrlars at the convent ; and to this
day the fair is fenced^ within the inclosure or garden where
the convent stood, at a place they call (but upon what
account I cannot tell) Craignaught." ^ As is well known,
Glasgow fair was instituted long before the order of Grey-
friars came into existence, so that the annual meeting at
Craigmak cannot have originated in the way stated by
M'Ure. Nor was it correct to say that the Greyfriars'
enclosure included more than a small portion of Craigmak.
The proximity of the two places appears to have prompted
the curious speculation just noticed as to the origin of the
fair.
Though, according to Almanac information, as well as
custom, Glasgow Fair begins on the second Monday of
July, it happens that no law or regulation was ever passed
to that effect, and that it is only now and then that the
authorised and actual dates tally. When instituted by King
William the Lion, more than 700 years ago, the Fair was
appointed to be held annually, for eight full days from
the octaves of the Apostles Peter and Paul. The date thus
indicated was 6th July, which was adhered to till about
a century and a half ago. The 6th was treated as the
" Fair evin," when arrangements were made at the open-air
assembly of the citizens above referred to, and the Fair
was proclaimed, in anticipation of business being commenced
on the morrow. The proclamation ceremony took double
form, as in 1581, when the officer of the barony proclaimed
the peace of the Fair on the Green and the burgh officer
did the same upon the market cross, in these words :
1 " Fenced "—proclaimed. 2 M^Ure, p. 57.
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BLACK FRIARS AND GREY FRIARS 205
'* Forsamekle as this day is the sext day of Julij, quhilk is
the fair evin of Glasgow, and the morne the fair day, quhilk
fair continewis the space of aucht dayis, thairfore I inhibit
and forbiddis straitlie, in our Soverane Lordis name and in
name and behalfe of ane noble and potent lord Esme
erle of Lennox, provest, and bailie of the baronie, and in
name of the bailies of this toun, that nane of oure Soverane
Lordis legis cumand to this fair, repairing thairin or gangand
thairfra, do ony hurt or trublens ane to ane uther, for
auld debt or new debt, auld feid or new feid, bot leif
peceablie and use thair merchandice and eschange, under
Goddis peace and our Soverane Lordis protectioun, under
all hiest pane and charge that may be imput to thame
doand in the contrare, and to be callit and accusit for
breking the Kingis Majesteis pece and trublance of his
hienes mercatt." In 1581 the 6th of July was a Thursday.
In 1607 the proclamation, made as usual on 6th July,
announces " the seventh day of the said month the fair
day of auld," and enjoins peaceful behaviour '* fra this day
(6th) furth to the 15th day of this moneth of Julij
inclusive." In that year the 6th was a Monday and the
15th a Wednesday with one Sunday intervening, but
sometimes there were two Sundays within the eight days.
This occurred in 1577 when the opening 7th being a
Sunday the magistrates forbade traffic on that day.^ By
the royal charter of 1636, the city was authorised to have
three markets, weekly, and " four free fairs," yearly, " the
fourt fair to begin yeirlie upon the sevint day of Julij and
to hald and continew for the space of aucht dayes thairefter,
according to use and wont."^ By that time it was not the
^ Glasg. Rec. i. pp. 60, 88, 154, 267.
^ G/asg. Cka. i. pt. ii. p. 386; ii. p. 596.
2o6 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
habit to reckon by the Saints' calendar, but the date
remained the same.
The date of holding the fair was slightly changed in 1744.
A minute of the Town Council, dated 3rd January of that
year, refers to two of the town's fairs, one held on 13th
January, and the other " upon the seventh day of July,
called the Fair of Glasgow," each continuing for eight days,
" whereby the Sabbath intervening in these eight days stops
and interrupts the course of the fair." To remedy this
inconvenience the Town Council ordained that the former
fair should begin on the second Monday of January and the
latter on the first Monday of July, and that each should
continue only till the end of the week in which it was
begun. So far as can be ascertained, no further regulation
has been passed regarding the date of holding the July fair,
but the transition, in 1752, from the old to the new style
appears to have operated indirectly in producing a change.
Notwithstanding the alteration in the calendar, the old style
was too deeply impressed on popular usage to be lightly
set aside, and as a rule it was adhered to in regulating
the dates of fairs. Glasgow Fair continued to be held on
the first Monday of July, old style, and this turned out
in some years to be the second Monday, and in others the
third Monday, new style. This continued for a long time,
but latterly people lost grip of the old style, and, without
any formal sanction, gradually dropped into the now pre-
valent custom of accepting the second Monday of July
according to the current calendar. In the year 1906 first
Monday O.S. corresponded to third Monday N.S., and
consequently the fair was held a week earlier than it would
have been under the Town Council's resolution of 1744.
XV.
PREBENDAL ENDOWMENTS IN GLASGOW
BARONY
IT has been mentioned that certain lands within the barony
and regality of Glasgow were set aside as endowments
for the clergy connected with the Cathedral.^ Twenty-three
prebends or benefices, held by the clergy, are specified in a
list compiled in 1401, but in consequence of subsequent
erections the number was increased to thirty-two, and these
were in possession of an equal number of canons composing
the chapter of the Cathedral. With few exceptions the
canons derived their incomes not from lands, which in
ecclesiastical phraseology were termed temporalities, but from
teinds and oblations, known as the spiritualities of parish
churches throughout the diocese. Ten of the parishes whose
teinds were thus appropriated were situated in Lanarkshire,
viz., Glasgow, Govan, Cadder and Monkland, Cambuslang,
Kilbride, Hamilton, Carstairs, Carnwath and Douglas, and
the others were distributed in the following order : Cardross
and Luss, in Dumbartonshire ; Campsie and Killearn, in
Stirlingshire ; Renfrew, Erskine, and Eaglesham, in Renfrew-
shire ; Ayr, Tarbolton, and Cumnock, in Ayrshire ; Duris-
deer, Moffat, Kirkmahoe, and Sanquhar, in Dumfries-shire ;
^ Ante a, p. no.
2o8 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
Peebles, Stobo, and Eddleston, in Peeblesshire ; and More-
battle, Ancrum, Ashkirk, and Auld Roxburgh, in the
shires of Roxburgh and Selkirk. As the canons had to
reside one part of the year in Glasgow and at other times
in their respective parishes, they were during absence repre-
sented in town by vicars of the stalls and in the country
by parochial vicars. Only thirty-one churches are above
enumerated, and as Cadder and Monkland were combined
there is a shortcoming of two prebends. The discrepancy
is accounted for by the fact that Glasgow supplied two
prebendaries, one possessing the parsonage and the other
the vicarage of the parish, while another prebendary was
in the peculiar position of having no parochial charge and
drawing no teinds, but deriving his income solely from the
produce of land. This last was possessor of the prebend
of Barlanark or Provand, which is first noticed as an inde-
pendent endowment in the year 1322. The lands themselves,
comprising an estate of about 2000 acres situated to the east
of Glasgow, belonged to the Church at the time of the
inquest in or about 11 16. In 1172 Pope Alexander III.
confirmed the bestowal by Bishop Herbert (1147-64) of
" Barlanark-cum-Budlornac " in augmentation of the prebend
ofCadiho or Hamilton.^ When, after a long interval, the
lands are again heard of in connection with the Church
they form a separate prebend. By a charter granted in the
seventeenth year of his reign. King Robert I. authorised
John Wyschard, " canon of the prebend of Barlanark of
the Church of Glasgow," and his successors, to possess the
prebend in free warren, for ever, and all persons were
forbidden to cut wood, hawk or hunt on the lands, without
license of the prebendary.^ Free warren was a sort of
^ Reg. Episc. No. 28. ^ lb. No. 272.
PREBENDAL ENDOWMENTS 209
forest right, and in the case of Barlanark was probably the
beginning of that which eventually merged into the baronial
jurisdiction of later times. During the reign of James II.
his secretary, William Turnbull, who was afterwards Bishop
of Glasgow, is sometimes designated in charters " dominus
Prebende," i.e. lord or laird of the prebend, and this is
understood as indicating that he held the prebend of Bar-
lanark. The Latin prebenda is equivalent to the Enghsh
provender^ and appears in the Scottish vernacular as Provand.
So far as is known Bishop Turnbull did not possess the
prebend during his episcopate, but it appears that one of
his successors had designs on its appropriation. In 1487
Bishop Blacader, coming to an agreement with the Dean
and Chapter on various matters, renounced certain Papal
bulls which had been sought for the union and incor-
poration of the prebend of Barlanark with the Bishop's own
benefice.^ In a document dated about six years after this
time King James IV. is designated a canon of the Cathedral,^
and some writers have suggested that he held the prebend
of Barlanark, probably because no parochial duties were
involved in its possession. But it was not essential that a
canon should hold a prebend, and in the absence of
evidence it need not be assumed that either James IV.
or James II., who was likewise a canon of the Cathedral,
possessed the lands of Barlanark. It was customary for
continental sovereigns and princes to be honorary canons
of religious establishments in their respective territories, and
the Scottish kings, in becoming canons of Glasgow Cathedral,
were only following the precedent set in other countries.
In some remarks on cathedral services, based on information
contained in the ms. Register of Glasgow Bishopric, then
"^ Reg. Episc. No. 450. -lb. No. 465.
o
210 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
preserved in the Scots College at Paris, Father Innes refers
to " King James IV., who was honorary canon of Glasgow,
as the Kings of France are of St. Martin of Tours." ^
Altogether it is more than likely that the connection of the
Scottish kings with the Cathedral did not affect its prebendal
arrangements.
In 1522-3 the prebend was held by a Master of Arts,
William Bailye, who is designated in a Bull by Pope
Adrian VI. as " canon of the Metropolitan Church of
Glasgow and prebendary of the prebend of Barlanark,
otherwise called Provand." Bailye, with the Pope's approval,
resigned the canonry and prebend of Barlanark, alias Provand,
called " the prebend of the church of Glasgow," in favour of
Thomas Bailye, another canon, but under reservation of his
own liferent. The next recorded appointment occurred in
November, 1 549, during the interval between the death
of Archbishop Dunbar and the appointment of his successor,
when Gavin Hamilton, " dean of the metropolitan church
and vicar-general of the vacant see," conferred the canonry
and prebend on " Mr. William Baillie." ^ Within a few
months from the date of his appointment, if not previously,
Baillie was a Senator of the College of Justice, and was
latterly President of the Court, taking the title of Lord
Provand. In consequence of the Reformation, religious
services in the Cathedral on the old system were brought
to a close, and many of the prebendaries took the oppor-
tunity of disposing of their temporalities to the best
advantage. Under ecclesiastical as well as civil law, church-
men were entitled to feu their lands provided their benefices
were not thereby diminished in rental, and this was the
1 Spalding Club Misc. ii. p. 365.
"^ Glasg. Chart, ii. pp. 350-1 {see corrections p. xxvii.).
PREBENDAL ENDOWMENTS 211
course adopted by Lord Provand. By a charter dated loth
April, 1562, "Mr, William Bailzie, canon of the metro-
politan church of Glasgow, and prebendary of the prebend
of Barlanark, alias Provand," conveyed these lands to
" Thomas Bailzie of Ravenscraig." The charter alludes to
the sanction given by sacred ordinances and the statutory
law of the realm for feuing of church lands, and to
the necessity of the time (than which nothing in church
affairs was remembered as more disturbing), and then
narrates that, for the improvement of the land and the
augmentation of the yearly revenue and advantage of the
prebend, the granter had resolved to feu the lands, a course
which was approved of by the dean and chapter after full
discussion and consideration. Thomas Bailzie had paid down
a capital sum of ;^iooo Scots, and he further became liable
for a yearly feuduty equivalent to the old rental and three
merks in augmentation. The old rental consisted of 32
bolls horse corn and 8 dozen poultry with £(^^ 7s. Scots
in money, and as the feuar had the option of converting
into money the corn at 5s, the boll and the poultry at
6d. each, the gross feuduty may be stated at ^^107 15s.
yearly, a sum which was payable to the Crown after the
annexation of temporalities in 1587,^ From a successor of
the feuar the Town Council of Glasgow purchased the lands
of Provan in 1667.^ One of the objects which the new
proprietors had in view was the securing of a supply of
water to their mills on the Molendinar Burn, With slight
exceptions the lands themselves were sold long ago, but
Provanmill and the water rights are still retained, and the
practice is likewise continued of appointing the Bailie of
^ Reg. Mag. Sig. v. No. 2209; Regality Club, iv. pp. 174-5,
^ G/asg. Chart, ii. p. 120.
212 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
Provan, a relic of the time when questions with the tenants
relating to rents or thirlage were decided in the barony
court.
The lands of Easter and Wester Craigs were so named
from their principal feature, a craggy ridge stretching about
a mile eastward from the left bank of the Molendinar Burn.
Along their south side lay the Gallowmuir, and northward
was the Town Mill Mailling, surrounding those mills which
Bishop Cameron (1426-46) authorised the burgesses and
community to erect " on the south side of Gardyngad,
upon the burn which is called Malyndoner." After curving
round the west base of the ridge, the burn supplied
motive power to another set of mills which, from a remote
period, stood on the lands of Wester Craigs. Both Craigs
were from early times assigned to two of the Cathedral
dignitaries, the subdean possessing Wester Craigs and the
mills, and Easter Craigs forming an endowment for the
treasurer.
Unlike Provan the other Cathedral prebends consisted
either wholly or partially of " spiritualities," and there had
been assigned to the treasurer the church of Carnwath,
which was erected into a prebend as early as the twelfth
century. In a roll of church benefices made up in 1275
the treasurer's prebend is valued at £160. Subsequent to
the Reformation (1561) it was reported that the prebend
was let on lease for ;^200.^ In 1563 "Mr. Thomas
Leveingstoune " was treasurer, and on 4th May of that
year he, with consent of the dean and chapter, and in
accordance with the practice at that time, feued the lands
of Easter Craigs to " John Leveingstoune," his brother.
John Livingston was succeeded by his son James, who
'^ Origines Parockiales, i, p, 126.
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214 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
conveyed the lands to Sir Matthew Stewart of Mynto in
1595. Sir Matthew had already come into possession of
Wester Craigs. From at least the year 1554 the sub-
deanery had been held by James Hamilton,^ who in 1558
is likewise found in possession of the bishopric of Argyle.
By a tack granted in 1562 Hamilton, there designed
" bischop of Argyll and subdeane of the Metropolitane Kirk
of Glasgow," leased Wester Craigs to his brother, " ane
maist reverend fader in God, John archbishop of Sanct-
androis," and it is stated that this was done in consideration
of 1000 merks paid " aforehand to us be the said maist
reverend fader, in our urgent necessitie, to our support in
this trublus tyme." Two years later the lands, mills, and
kilns were permanently disposed of under a feu-charter
granted by the subdean to Alexander Stewart of Castlemilk,
by whose successors they were in 1569 transferred to
" Mathew Stewart, sone and appeirand air to Sir Johne
Stewart of Mynto, knight, and Jonat Stewart, his futur
spous." ^ By the operation of the Act of 1587 annexing
temporalities to the Crown, King James became superior
of both properties, and in 1599 he confirmed them to
Walter Stewart, eldest son of Sir Matthew. From this
confirmation it is ascertained that the feuduty payable for
Wester Craigs was ;^20 3s. 4d. and for Easter Craigs ^i^
yearly.^ In 1619 Sir Walter conveyed the mills and right
of thirlage, together with the superiority of 23 kilns, to
the Town Council and community, who already possessed
the other mills in the city.* The lands of Easter and Wester
Craigs were purchased by the Merchants' House of Glasgow
from Sir Ludovic Stewart in 1650, and since then have been
^ G/asg. Prot. No. 211. ^ Merchants^ House, pp. 42, 518-9.
^ Reg. Mag. Sig. vi. No. 939. '^Jntea, p. 159.
PREBENDAL ENDOWMENTS 215
subjected to numerous transmissions. With the exception of
the area occupied by the Necropolis almost the whole lands,
embracing what is known as the Dennistoun district, is now
covered with streets and buildings.
The two parishes of Cadder and Badermonoch, or Monk-
land, were early erected into a prebend for the subdean,
and, as that dignitary possessed, in addition, not only the
lands of Wester Craigs already referred to, but also those
of Deanside and Provanside, his endowments were more
than usually lucrative. This fact perhaps accounts so far
for the liberal donations of Roland Blacader and James
Houstoun, who in succession held the subdeanery between
1503 and 1 55 1, the former having founded and endowed
a hospital in the Stablegreen with relative chaplainry in the
Cathedral, and the latter having founded and endowed the
collegiate church of St. Mary in Trongate. Deanside and
Provanside adjoined each other, though at one part they
were separated by the tenements in the ancient thoroughfare
of Ratounraw formerly described.^ Throughout this terri-
tory belonging to the subdean, extending from Ramshorn
lands on the south to Broomhill and Cowcaddens on the
north, the subdean's bailie held his own Courts, gave sasine
to vassals and served heirs in properties, all in the same
manner as did Glasgow bailies in the burgh or the bishop's
bailies throughout the regality. This system was continued
when the lands were in the Crown's possession under the
Annexation Act of 1587, but it doubtless terminated in
1 6 13, when they were incorporated with the burgh under
a charter whereby King James VI. gave them to the com-
munity of Glasgow. It was stated in the charter that the
gift was in recompense of the great charges incurred by
^ Antea, pp. 13, 14.
2i6 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
the community in repairing the metropolitan church and
upholding the bridge, these " being two monuments and
ornaments of our kingdom," but it is not apparent that
any immediate pecuniary advantage accrued to the town
from the gift. The " ancient feu farm " formerly payable
to the subdeans, was 36s. 8d, Scots ; and this sum, with
an augmentation of 3s. 4d., was in future to be paid by the
community to the Crown over and above certain rents and
duties owing to the College and the Crafts' Hospital. In
the town's rental of 1657-9, "the tenandry of Ratounraw,
quhilk of old pertained to the subdean," is set down
as yielding ;^i 5s. gd.y the whole having apparently been
disposed of before the year 16 13 for payment of small
rents or feuduties.^
When the church of Erskine first appears on record it
belonged to the Abbey of Paisley, but in the year 1227,
as part of an arrangement regarding dues called procurations,
payable to the Bishop of Glasgow for the Abbey Churches,
it was agreed that the church of " Yrskin " should become
the property of the Bishop. At what date the parsonage
was erected into a prebend is not known, but it appears as
such in the list of 1401. From the Book of Assumptions,
a record containing rentals of church benefices at the
Reformation, it is ascertained that the parsonage was in
1 56 1 let for 200 merks.2 The detailed contents of this
valuable record are not yet accessible in print, but it may
be assumed that the lease included Blythswood, which,
being described as a £2 land, may be estimated as con-
taining over 150 acres. The lands were situated outside the
west border of the burgh, Glasgow or St. Enoch's Burn
^ Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 284-91 ; ii. pp. 621-2 ; Glas. Rec. iii. p. 543.
2 Origines Parochiales, i. p. 80.
PREBENDAL ENDOWMENTS 217
forming at one part the line of separation. In sixteenth
century titles parts of the lands are described as laid out
in crofts, one being called the " Schort Holm " and another
the " Langholme." The " hill of Blythisuod " is referred
to as " lying between the burn of Glasgow on the east and
the lands of Cowcaldanis on the north." There are also
" the pece under the hill " and the " muir of Blythisuod,
bounded by the lands of Cowcaldanis on the north."
David Steward was in possession of the prebend at the
Reformation, and, like most of his brother canons at that
time, he parted with the temporalities for payment of an
annual feuduty. By a charter dated 30th March, 1562,
" David Steward, canon of Glasgow and prebendary of the
prebend of Erskyn," conveyed the £2 l^^id, old extent, of
Blythswood, with the pertinents, to John Steward of Mynto,
knight, but this appears to have been only a temporary
arrangement, as on ist May in the following year the
lands were feued by the same prebendary to George
Elphinston. In the feu charter it is stated that Elphinston
had paid to the prebendary great sums of money for his
relief from certain debts contracted for his sustenance in
the late turbulent time, and it was stipulated that, in
addition to these advances there should be payable a yearly
feuduty of 5 marks as the old rental and 3s. ^d. in aug-
mentation.^ In 1595, Sir George Elpinstoun of Blythswood,
knight, succeeded his father as proprietor, not only of these
lands, but also of the adjoining lands of Woodside, as well
as Gorbals on the south side of Clyde, and the whole were
consolidated into one holding. By a charter granted by
King James VI., " after his lawful and perfect age, and
all his revocations, and the annexation to the crown of the
'^ Glasg. Prot. Nos. 151 3, 1548.
2l8
GLASGOW MEMORIALS
temporalities of all benefices and prelacies within the king-
dom," the several lands were united into a free barony to
be called the barony of Blythswood.^ About forty years
afterwards Gorbals was severed from the other lands, which
were left to form the nucleus of what is now known as
the entailed estate of Blythswood. It was not till so recent
BUILDING CALLED "LORD DARNLEY'S COTTAGE."
a period as 1830 that the city's boundary was extended
west of Glasgow Burn, but the territory then added to the
municipal area included along with the greater Blythswood
that portion of the land which of old was possessed as a
prebendal endowment by the successive parsons of Erskine.
The manse of the parson of Erskine was situated near
the Bishop's Castle, on a space now embraced in Cathedral
Square. Occupying part of the site of the former manse,
was a small one-story building which, though of no great
^ Glas. Prot. No. 3 1 ^6.
PREBENDAL ENDOWMENTS
219
antiquity, passed for many years under the name of Lord
Darnley's Cottage. In another old house, at the back of
this cottage, the late Gabriel Neil, in December, 1857,
discovered a stone, ^ inscribed with initials and armorial
bearings. From the letters printed in Glasghu Fades (pp.
682, 1264) it appears that, beyond the recognition of the
Cunningham coat of arms, any attempt to interpret the
other markings had not been successful. But the mystery
has been cleared up by the publication of a protocol
narrating that, on i8th June, 1562, the Parson of Erskine
sold his manse to Thomas Forret, citizen of Glasgow, and
Joan Conyngham, his spouse,^ The initials are thus identi-
fied as those of the purchasers, and the stone was evidently
meant as a memorial of their joint ownership. It may be
added that all the old buildings which stood on the site of
the manse in 1866 were removed by the Improvements
Trustees under the authority of their Act of that year.
The Parish of Glasgow, including the district which in
post-Reformation times was set aside as the Barony Parish,
1 Now preserved in Kelvingrove Museum. '^ Glasg, Prot. No. 1467.
220 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
supplied two prebends, the parsonage being designated
Glasgow Primo and the vicarage Glasgow Secundo. Both
were in existence before 1401, but only one is referred to
in 1 172 when Pope Alexander III. confirmed the privileges
of the parish along with the ploughgate at Renfrew, which
Bishop Herbert gave in augmentation of the prebend.^
Besides the Renfrew property the prebend was endowed with
several pieces of land in the vicinity of Glasgow. As already
mentioned, the parson provided part of the site for the
Greyfriars' Monastery,^ retaining the remaining lands, known
as Craignaught. According to the Book of Assumptions
{Origines Parochiaks, i. p. 2), the prebend was at the
time of the Reformation valued at £60 4s. 8d. in money,
32 chalders 8 bolls meal, 9 chalders 3 bolls bear, 3 barrels
herring,^ and other 10 marks in money. Henry Sinclair,
^ ']{eg. Eplsc. No. 28. "^ Antea, pp. 200-1.
^ According to the valuations of benefices above referred to, the parson of
Glasgow received three barrels of herring, and the vicar was entitled to
" the third part of the teynd of the boats coming to the brig of Glasgow."
During the temporary suppression of Prelacy in the reign of Charles I.,
the Town Council acquired the parochial teinds, both parsonage and vicarage,
and the printed minutes give some information about the revenue derived
from herrings and other fish. In 1649 the Council appointed a "table of
the viccaradge fische" to be subscribed, and directed the Water Bailie and
his sergeants to assist in exacting the dues there set down. Unfortunately
the " table," which might have supplied some curious particulars, has not
been preserved. Five years afterwards the " teynd fische " were set, by
public roup, to a tacksman, realising £60 Scots. In 1659, 95 merks
(^^63 6s. 8d.) were got, but in the following year the Council resolved
" not to sett nor roup the tynd fisch as formerlie, in regaird of the great
discuragment of theis who brings in the killing {i.e. large cod), in respect
ther was takine frome them sex of there best killing in name of tynd out of
every boat, quhilk is now dischargit to be exacted heirafter ; and dry killing
and dry ling, and all small fisches to be frie of tynd heirafter, but that ilk
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PREBEND AL ENDOWMENTS 221
who was at one time president of the Court of Session, and
latterly Bishop of Ross, possessed the parsonage from about
the year 1548 till his death in 1564-5. " Maister Alexander
Lauder" next held it, and in 1570 he was succeeded by
Archibald Douglas, who had been implicated in Darnley's
murder, and whose subsequent career did not improve his
reputation. By a charter dated ist May, 1573, "Mr.
Archibald Dowglas, canon of Glasgow and prebendary of
Glasgow Primo," with consent of the dean and chapter,
and in consideration of the payment of 1000 merks and
boat that brings in fresh Icilling, ling or skait, pay in name of tynd 13s. 4d.
(a merk) ilk tyme, and the herring and wthers to pay as of befor ; and the
Water Baillie to collect the same quhill farder advysment " {G/asg. Rec. ii.
pp. 169, 294, 4.22, 446). On their restoration, the archbishops resumed
possession of the teinds which they set by successive tacks to the Town
Council " with the haill teind herrings and other teind fish of the Water
of Clyd." The Crown, after the final abolition of Episcopacy, granted similar
tacks, which subsisted till the beginning of the nineteenth century ; but whether,
in the town's hands, the exaction of such teinds was continued or allowed
to fall into desuetude has not been ascertained. Nothing regarding their
collection has been noticed in the printed minutes subsequent to the entry
above quoted, and since the last tack terminated, about a hundred years ago,
any claim in that direction must have rested with the Crown.
Other Glasgow churchmen besides the parson and vicar were pecuniarily
interested in the herring fisheries. In the thirteenth century, Dervorgilla of
Baliol, daughter of Alan of Galloway, and widow of John de Baliol, gave to
the church of Glasgow various lands then lying in the lordship of Largs, and
afterwards included in the parishes of Largs and Dairy. A confirmation
charter by her son. King John, states that the endowment was for the
support of four chaplains who were to celebrate divine services {Reg. Episc.
Nos. 230, 250) ; but the lands appear to have come into the possession of
the canons forming the Chapter of Glasgow Cathedral, by whom they were
held till the Reformation, when under the stress of " urgent necessity " they
were sold for a price payable so much in cash and the remainder by yearly
feuduty (G/asg. Chart, ii. pp. 522-8, 542-3). As indicated by the charter of
222 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
of assistance rendered to him in the time of much peril,
granted in feu-farm to " Mr. David Rollok of Kincladye "
and his spouse 13 acres called " Personis-croft," near the
Stabell-greene, lands near Brumelaw on the west side of
the city, and lands called " Personis-hauch, alias Rankynnis-
hauch," lying near Stobcross ; but reserving to the prebendary
a place for gathering the teind sheaves of his prebend. The
'* lands near Brumelaw " adjoined those of Blythswood and
lay on the north side of what is now Argyle Street,
formerly a road termed in a title deed of 1706 the
sale, the canons had been entitled to receive, as a pertinent of the lands, a
yearly supply of 6000 red or cured herrings, and it may be assumed that
this quantity was, from an early date, apportioned on those tenants who
occupied the shore properties and practised the fisher craft. To the feuduty
of twelve merks exacted from the feuar in respect of the herrings the Crown
acquired right under the Benefices Annexation Act of 1587, and that sum
is probably still collected by the Crown Receiver, whatever may have become
of the obligation on the tenants to supply the 6000 herrings.
King David I., founder of Holyrood, gave to the monks of that abbey a
free right to fish for herrings in the River Clyde at Renfrew. Subsequent
sovereigns exacted a tax on the fishing in the western seas called the " Assyse
of Herring," and this tax was latterly farmed. By a charter, dated 28 February,
1 561-2, Queen Mary granted to James Campbell, nephew of Colin
Campbell of Ardkinglass, the " assyse herring " of the west seas, extending
from the Pentland Firth to the Mull of Galloway, and where the sea flows
within the River Clyde, for payment of six lasts and two barrels of sufficient
herring, at the burgh of Glasgow, between Martinmas and Candlemas yearly.
An account of the sums received for the year 1596 has been preserved. Five
merks were charged for each boat, realising ^^1557 6s. 8d. Scots in all. The
town of Renfrew had 19 boats, the laird of Newark (afterwards Port-Glasgow)
had 12, the laird of Greenock 78, the parish of Inverkip 79, Saltcoats and
Kilbryde 28, and the remainder, numbering about 470 in all, belonged to
other places on the coast, including the Cumbraes [Hist. MSS. Commission
Report^ iv. p. 481 ; Glasg. Prot. vol. v. pp. xii, xiii). Out of the money
collected from the fishing boats the rent to the Crown and other expenses
PREBENDAL ENDOWMENTS 223
" commone lone leading to Drummoderhill.^ Consisting of
12^ acres, "called Parson's Land," this property was in
the early part of the eighteenth century acquired by the
Incorporation of Taylors, in two or three separate parcels.
Thereafter the incorporation formed Bishop Street through
the land and disposed of the remainder in building lots.
The yearly feuduty payable to the parson under the charter
of 1573 amounted to ^^20, being composed of ;^i8 i6s. 8d.
of old rental and £\ 3s. 4d. of augmentation.^ The parson
had lilcewise at one time lands situated between Provost-
haugh (now included in Glasgow Green) and Barrowfield,
and these are found in possession of James Forret of
would be met, any surplus being profit. In 1600 the Countess of Argyll
was lessee, and subsequent lets were mainly to the Argyll family. In a tack
by Queen Anne to the Duke of Argyll in 1705 it is stated that "he and
his predecessors have been lessees of the said assyse herring for many ages."
Latterly the yearly rent payable to the Crown was _^iooo Scots, and it is
stated, in 1681, that the charge per boat was then ,^5. The tax on fishing
boats, which was not confined to the West Coast, frequently formed the
subject of complaint by the Convention of Royal Burghs, as in 1733, when
it is stated that " the coast fishing and small boats is much discouraged
by ane syse or duty imposed upon every boat both in the Firth of Forth
and in the Firth of Clyde and in the Isles." In his History of Glasgow,
published in 1795, Andrew Brown mentions that every boat formerly paid
to the Crown looo herrings each drave or voyage, and that " this lordship"
had long been vest in the noble family of Argyll ; " but we have not heard
at what period they desisted from exacting this tribute." Another exaction,
" the assyse aill," accounted for by the Sherift of Dumbarton, and yielding
£^\z yearly, is described by Sir William Purves in his Revenue of the Scottish
Crotvn (1681) "as ane auld dewtie payed to his Majestie for the aill that
is drunken and spent att the fishing of the west sea, bot ther is hardly
anything payed since anno 1646."
'^ MS. Sas. Reg. 1705-9, pp. 41-2.
^ Reg. Mag. Sig. iv. No. 2954; G/asg. Prot. Nos. 1037-8.
224 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
Barrowfield, who, in 1590-1, obtained a crown charter in
" the lands called Brumewaird, of old belonging to the
rector of Glasgow," for payment of 15s. yearly .^
Adjoining the lands of Stobcross, and situated not far
from " Parson's Land," through which Bishop Street was
formed, lay a piece of rising ground called " Cranstounhill
or Drummoderis Aikeris," which belonged to the Parson
of Renfrew, and was set by him in feu to James Hill,
for the yearly payment of £6 9s. ^ A local historian, who
named the place " Drum-over-hill," says it was so called
" from the fact that all the vagabonds who were banished
furth of the city, were accompanied to the spot by the
town's drummer, playing the * Rogue's March,' and this
official saw them fairly beyond the bounds." ^ All this is
purely imaginary, and as the story, devoid though it is of
either historical or etymological authority, has been repeated
elsewhere, it may be as well to take the 'opportunity of
trying to stop its further currency.
'^ Reg. Mag. Sig. v. No. 1833.
^ G/asg. Prot. Nos. 3348-9; Regality Club, iv. p. 171.
^ Past and Present, i. p. 53.
A VIKW OK THK CITV OF GLASGOW 1!V JOHN .M'UKE.
XVI.
PRE-REFORMATION CHAPELS AND CHURCHES
OF GLASGOW
GLASGOW'S earliest historian has observed that " there
were several churches or chappels before the Reformation
within the precincts of the city, such as St. Enoch's Church
without the West Port, the remains of which is yet to be
seen ; St. John the Baptist's Chappell at the head of the
Drygate, at the back of Sir George Elphinston's great
lodging ; and another chappel called St. Rook's Chappel,
a little way without the Stablegreen Port. There is no
vestige remaining of the building, but the yard that was
round it is still conspicuous." ^ In this passage two aspects
of M'Ure's method are well illustrated. While statements
based on his personal knowledge may always be accepted
without reserve, caution is needed where his authority consists
of tradition or interpretation of old writings, but even where
mistakes occur there are usually underlying facts worthy of
investigation. That in 1736 the ruins of St. Tenew's Chapel
were still visible and the cemetery which had surrounded
the vanished chapel of St. Roche remained are interesting
bits of information known to the narrator, and fortunately
noted in his pages. But what is said regarding a chapel
1 M'Ure, pp. 61-2.
226
GLASGOW MEMORIALS
of St. John was the result of misconception. A property
at the corner of High Street and Drygate formed one of
the endowments of the chaplainry or altarage ot St. John
in the Cathedral, and was so described in title-deeds,^ the
EPISCOPAL PALACE AND CATHEDRAL.
perusal of which apparently led to the erroneous assumption
that a chapel had existed there. But though St. John's
Chapel must fall from the list, there are others to be
added ; and as recent investigations have enlarged our
1 Reg. Episc. No. 468.
PRE-REFORMATION CHAPELS 227
knowledge of most of the pre-Reformation churches and
chapels, the opportunity may be taken of noticing a few
of the more important particulars regarding them.
Passing over the Cathedral, accounts of which, with varying
fulness, have been given by several writers, the first to be
noticed is the
CHAPEL OF ST. TENEW.
According to early tradition the earthly remains of St.
Kentigern's mother were interred on the spot where the
chapel bearing her name was reared. That name has many
variations in ancient chronicle and charter. Thanew and
Tenew were the more common forms till about the end of
the sixteenth century, when St. Enew and Sanctennoch came
into use, and it was an easy transition from these to the
now familiar St. Enoch. As regards the authenticity of the
story which associates the site of the chapel with the tomb
of St. Tenew, little more can be said than that it carries
no inherent improbability, and that from a remote period
it was accepted as historical fact. In the Aberdeen Breviary,
the printing of which in 1509 is connected with the intro-
duction of the typographic art into Scotland, it is stated
that the venerable matron died and was buried in Glasgow,
and there are likewise on record earlier notices to the same
purport. By a charter dated 8th July, 1401, Joanna, Countess
of Douglas, for the weal of her soul and the soul of her
late husband. Earl Archibald, and for the devotion which she
bore to St. Kentigern and the Church of Glasgow, directed
that from the revenues of her barony of Bothwell three
stones of wax yearly should be provided for the lights of
the church.^ These lands subsequently reverted to the
^ Reg. Episc. No. 321.
228 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
Crown ; and King James III., having ascertained that the
contribution had for some years been neglected, and being
desirous that in future the church should not be prejudiced,
ordered that the three stones of wax should be regularly-
levied from the lands of Odingstoune (Uddingston), in the
lordship of Bothwell, 2^ stones to be used at the tomb of
St. Kentigern in the cathedral, and the remaining half-stone
at the tomb of St. Tenew " in the chapel where her bones
lay." This charter was granted on 14th October, 1475, t>ut
in 1498 it was found that the contribution was seven years
in arrear, and Archbishop Blacader thereupon took proceed-
ings in the Court of the Official of Glasgow against fifteen
possessors of the lands of Uddingston for fulfilment of their
obligations. The defaulters were promptly ordained to deliver
18 stones of wax to the church and 3 stones to the chapel,
under penalty of excommunication, which was to be pro-
nounced with the usual solemnities of tolling bells and lighting
and extinguishing candles.^ It thus seems evident that in the
fifteenth century people believed that the reputed tomb was
genuine. But in mediaeval times the remains of departed
saints were not always allowed to lie intact. This was
illustrated in the case of St. Tenew, as a catalogue of
cathedral relics and ornaments, compiled in 1432, contains
this entry : " Item, two linen bags with bones of St.
Kentigern, St. Tenew, and sundry other saints." ^
At an early date the chapel gave name to the thorough-
fare now known as Trongate and Argyle Street. From
1426 onwards there is a series of documents in which "via
Sancte Tenew " is the designation of the street leading from
the market cross to the chapel. Regarding the architectural
appearance of the chapel and the religious services conducted
^Reg. Episc. Nos. 407, 478-9. '^Ib. No. 339.
PRE-REFORMATION CHAPELS 229
in it, no particulars have been preserved ; and most of the
meagre details concerning the endowments relate to the period
succeeding its dissolution. The building was surrounded by
a cemetery, and there were likewise a few acres of adjoining
land, which went by the name of St. Tenew's Croft. ^ This
croft, with the cemetery, extended westward from the tene-
ments on the west side of Stockwell Street to Glasgow Burn,
which flowed somewhat in the line of the present Adam's
Court Lane. On the south was the Old Green, while the
northern portion of the croft bordered on Pallioun Croft,
though perhaps divided from it by a road in the line of
the present Argyle Street. Following the example of the
bishops in the management of their more extensive lands,
the inferior clergy disposed of their crofts to rentallers, who
gradually acquired right to the subdivided rigs or plots by
heritable title for payment usually of small feuduties or
annualrents. Previous to the Reformation, a considerable
portion, if not the whole, of St. Tenew's Croft had been
disposed of in this manner, and the published protocols
narrate numerous transmissions by individual proprietors.
In one of these, dated 27th July, 1569, John Blackwood
conveyed to Robert Pollok in Partick an acre of the croft,
but reserving right of redemption on payment of ^^30 and
a " hogheid " of herrings (or £^ for the- herrings) if settled
at the ensuing Feast of the Nativity. For any subsequent
redemption the price was to be ;/^38, and this sum was
paid in 1570.^ Several of the properties are bounded by
a lane leading to a spring called St. Tenew's Well, around
which traditions of sanctity long lingered. The well is
supposed to have been situated in St. Enoch's Wynd, a
little to the east of the present square, and the spot must
^Glasg. Proi. No. 2462. ^ lb. Nos. 1665, 1687.
230 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
now be hid from view by the superstructure of the railway
station. At the Reformation about three acres of land,
including the cemetery, remained around the church, and by
some process, of which no record is extant, these properties
came into the possession of a citizen named James Fleming,
who had also acquired the site of the Collegiate Church of
St. Mary. In 1582 Fleming destined to his daughter and
her spouse various properties, including the " old church
sometimes called Sanct Tenwis Kirk, then being a barn,
with yard adjacent, and three acres of land lying about the
church in the croft of St. Tenew." ^ Though thus used
as a barn, it is probable that little or no alteration was
made on the exterior, seeing that in M'Ure's time the
building was still recognisable as a chapel. An entry in the
kirk-session records, dated February 22, 1593, refers to a
chapel in the Trongate, where some images were found.^
Whether these images were discovered in St. Tenew's Chapel
or in that of St. Mary is not stated, but they had evidently
escaped the clearance at the Reformation, when all the churches
and chapels were purged of idolatry. For a considerable time
the surface of the cemetery was preserved unbroken. In 1593
Fleming, the then proprietor, appeared before the Presbytery,
and was asked " gif it be of treuthe that he intendis to teill
the kirkyardes of Sanct Roche and Sanct Tenes, or to con-
vert the said kirkyardes in buyldit houses and landis." An
assurance was given that there was no such intention, and
that before applying the kirkyards to any other purpose
than that to which they were then put, presumably pasture
ground, the consent of the Presbytery would be obtained.^
As M'Ure does not mention a burying-ground in connection
^ G/asg. Prot. No. 2462. ^vVodrow's Collections (Weems), p. 9.
^ Maitland Club Miscellany, i. p. 61.
PRE-REFORMATION CHAPELS 231
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232 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
with the church it is probable that the old cemetery was
then undistinguishable from the adjoining croft. Three acres
of land, which appear to have included the kirkyard, were
acquired by the Merchants' House in 1629, and were then
described as arable. A minute of the Town Council dated
30th March, 1756, refers to an encroachment on the Green
by a tenant who, when tilling St. Enoch's yard, had ploughed
a piece of vacant ground on the south belonging to the
town. In 1750 the Town Council bought the Merchants'
ground for the purpose of their establishing a live cattle
market. The market scheme was not proceeded with, and
about the year 1768 the ground was laid off in building
lots, but more than 20 years elapsed before these were fully
taken up, and St. Enoch's Square completed. The first
church, opened in 1782, was replaced by the present structure,
erected in 1827. The precise sites of the chapel and cemetery
are not ascertainable, but it is probable that underneath the
latter the busy traffic of the Subway is now conducted,
while overhead there has long been effaced any memorial
suggestive of proximity to the ancient shrine of St. Tenew.
CHAPEL OF ST. THOMAS THE MARTYR.
Little more than two years after Archbishop Becket of
Canterbury had been slain in his own cathedral, on 29th
December, 11 70, he was canonised as St. Thomas the Martyr,
and became the object of widespread veneration both in Eng-
land and Scotland, as is evidenced by the dedication to him
of numerous churches and chapels. King William the Lion,
who about that time authorised the bishop to have a burgh
at Glasgow, founded the abbey of St. Thomas at Aberbrothic,
and endowed it with valuable possessions, including a toft
PRE-REFORMATION CHAPELS 233
in each of the royal burghs. Whether the chapel of St.
Thomas at Glasgow dates from this or a later period there
is no record to show; but about a century and a half thereafter
it is referred to as an existing establishment. In 1320 Sir
Walter Fitz-Gilbert, progenitor of the ducal family of Hamilton,
bequeathed to the cathedral a suit of priests' vestments, under
provision that they might be borrowed twice yearly for the
use of the chapel of St. Thomas at Glasgow — namely, on
the festival of his commemoration (29th December) and the
feast of his translation (7th July).^ Other evidence of Glas-
gow's veneration for the martyr is afforded by entries in the
Inventory of 1432, already noticed, showing that his comb
and his hair shirt were preserved in the Cathedral. There
is reason to believe that the chapel adjoined, and may have
been in some way connected, with that of St. Tenew. What
is now Trongate and its continuation was in 1426 referred
to as the street leading from the market cross to the chapels
of St. Thomas the Martyr and St. Tenew, and there are
subsequent descriptions to the like effect. From interesting
entries in the Papal Registers, referring to certain benefices,
it is ascertained that in the year 1422, and subsequently,
the " perpetual chaplainry of St. Thomas the Martyr, without
the walls of Glasgow, without cure, and of the patronage
of laymen," was held by " David de Hamylton, rector of
Cumnock." Hamylton possessed other benefices, and in one
place he is stated to be a " bachelor of canon law, and is
of a race of great nobles, and has studied theology for six
years at Paris." ^ It appears that the College authorities,
who had some early connection with the chapel, eventually
acquired it as their property. By a statute of the Faculty
of Arts passed in 1462 it was provided that, preparatory
^ Reg. Episc. No. 267. ^ Papal Reg. vii, pp. 241-2, 258, 425-6.
234 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
to the annual procession through the city after the Feast
of St. Nicholas, all the masters and students should assemble
and hear matins in the Chapel of St. Thomas the Martyr.^
A rental, compiled in 1565, of the " Auld Foundatioun of
the College," meaning endowments possessed previous to the
Reformation, specifies " Sanct Thomas Kirk and the Kirk-
yaird."^ There is no trace of any "kirkyaird" in St. Tenew's
gait other than two burying grounds — one adjoining the
Chapel of St. Tenew, and the other at the Collegiate Church
of St. Mary. In these the college had no interest at the
date of the rental, and therefore the " kirkyaird " there
referred to may have been connected with that adjoining
St. Tenew's Chapel. Subsequent to the Reformation the
college acquired the endowments of St. Thomas's altarage
in the Cathedral (founded in the beginning of the sixteenth
century by Adam Colquhoun, rector of Stobo), and these
according to a rental included a " ruid of land in St. Tenew's
croft." Possibly there had been an amalgamation of the
endowments of the chapel and those of the altarage, but
on this subject the rental and accounts of the college are
not explicit. For one thing, it seems not improbable that
the chapel, if it was separate from that of St. Tenew, had
disappeared previous to the Reformation, as its existence at
that time or subsequently is not noticed in any records now
extant.
CHAPEL OF THE VIRGIN MARY.
It is probable that the burgesses of the new burgh founded
under King William's authority lost no time in making
provision for religious services appropriate to their needs
and the custom of the period. In the vicinity of the Cross
^ Munimenta, Vx. p. 39. '^Ib. i. p. 93.
PRE-REFORMATION CHAPELS 235
the mercantile and artisan class were gathered together, and
their distance from the Cathedral was not inconsiderable.
The Tolbooth, close by the market cross, occupied the corner
where the steeple, a seventeenth century edifice, now stands,
at the west side of High Street and north side of Trongate.
Immediately west of the Tolbooth a chapel dedicated to the
Virgin Mary was erected. The time and circumstance of
the erection are not specifically known, but having regard
to its situation it may be conjectured that like the Tolbooth
itself, and contemporaneously with that building, the chapel
was established by the burgh authorities for the benefit of
the community. As in the case of St, Tenew's Chapel,
St. Mary's had an endowment for its lights, and it is with
reference to lands held for this purpose that in a charter
dated 15th September, 1293, the name of St. Mary's Chapel
first appears on record.^ From the Calendar of Papal
Registers, it is ascertained that one Walter Wan, of the
diocese of Glasgow, held the chapel of St. Mary in the
year 1384.^ It is interesting to note that in a protocol
book dated 1530-7 "our Ladye gait" is used as an
alternative designation to St. Teneu's gait at its eastern
end where it fronted the old chapel.^ The Collegiate
Church of St. Mary and St. Ann, founded by James Houston,
and erected on the opposite side of the street about thirty
years before the Reformation, appears to have superseded
the chapel and taken possession of it as an endowment.
There is still in existence a charter, dated loth February,
1555-6, whereby the chaplain and prebendary of St. Mary
in the Collegiate Church (in consideration of 1 1 merks
yearly payable to him and his successors), with consent of
^G/asg. Chart, i. pt. ii. p. 20. '^ Papal Reg. i. p. 566.
^Glasg. Prot. No. 105 1.
236 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
(i) the other prebendaries, (2) the Town Council as patrons
of the Collegiate Church, and (3) the Archbishop, feued
the disused building and its site to George Herbertsoun and
spouse. The building was described as a tenement, " other-
wise called the chapell," and it is said to have been "then
ruinous and would come to complete ruin unless immediate
provision should be made for repair thereof." ^ This is the
last that is heard of the chapel as such. At a subsequent
period the site must have been acquired for extensions of
the Tolbooth or the Town Hall and adjoining buildings,
but owing to the rebuilding and other transformation the
site has long been undistinguishable from the surrounding
properties.
CHURCH OR CHAPEL OF LITTLE ST. KENTIGERN.
In 1539 a property on the north side of Gallowgate is
described as bounded by a tenement belonging to George
Colquhoun, "which was sometime the chapel of St. Nicholas."'^
No trace of this chapel has been found elsewhere, but still
the definite phraseology of the description does not look
like a clerical slip. Of another chapel situated on the north
side of Gallowgate more satisfactory particulars are available.
The founder was David Cuninghame, who seems to have
had a favourable opportunity for gathering money, as he
held simultaneously three lucrative appointments — viz., the
archdeaconry of Argyle, the provostry of the Collegiate Church
of Hamilton, and the post of official or judge in the consis-
torial Court of Glasgow. In 1495 Cuninghame had manifested
his interest in the celebration of religious services by founding
^ G/asg. Chart, ii. pp. 513-7; Glasg. Prot. No. 3728.
^ Lib. Col. p. 122.
PRE-REFORMATION CHURCHES 237
and endowing a chaplainry at the altar of All Saints in the
nave of the cathedral.^ Five years later he founded a
chaplainry in what is described as a church built on his
costs, outwith the walls of the city, in the Gallowgate,
beyond Malindoner Burn, near St. Kentigern's trees. The
endowments of this chaplainry consisted of a tenement in
Trongate, and several acres of land in Dowhill, Gallowmuir,
and Provanside, with annual rents from the lands of Drips
and an orchard near Rutherglen.^ As shown by contemporary
records, progress was being made with the church furnishings
in 1504-5 ; and in 1513 a chaplain, in succession to one who
had died, was inducted by delivery of the keys of the church,
the bell rope, book, chalice, and ornaments of the altar.^
Subsequent to the Reformation the endowments were trans-
ferred to the college, along with other church properties.
The church itself and surrounding burying-ground passed into
the hands of a feuar, whose successors, Donald Conynghame
of Aikinbar, and Marion Lyoune, spouses, in 1593, sold to
the Town Council, " the chapell and hows callit St. Moungois
chaiplanrie, with kirkyairde and pertinentis thairof," one of
the conditions being that the purchasers were " nocht to alter
the Conynghames armis af the said kirk, presentlie thairupone,
in all tymes cuming, sa lang as the wall standis." ^ The
purpose then in view was the providing of a hospital for
the poor. Entries in the kirk-session records at that time
likewise narrate preparations for fitting up the kirk as a
hospital ; but it is not certain that the scheme was carried
into effect. Remaining in the town's possession till 1754,
^ Reg. Episc. No. 471.
^Glasg. Rec. No. 481 ; Glasg. Prot. No. 2701.
^ Dioces. Reg. Prot. Nos. 91, 652.
*MS. Contract of Sale; Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. p. 454, No, 105.
238 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
the property was then sold for the erection of an inn, the
purchaser being allowed to take building material from the
East Port, a structure which was then being removed. The
famous Saracen Head Inn, erected in accordance with these
arrangements, long flourished on the site. The building
latterly consisted of a tenement of dweUing-houses and
shops, immediately west of Saracen Lane, but till its
removal in 1905 the walls carried the massive stones of
Gallowgate Port, and it was in other respects an interesting
memorial of bygone times.^
CHURCH OF ST. ROCHE.
War and pestilence were the prevailing evils which disturbed
the equanimity of town life in ancient times, but of the two
a visitation of the "pest" inspired the greater dread. Periodi-
cally and at brief intervals Town Councils were either dealing
with an outbreak or taking measures to avert infection from
other places. But the medical and sanitary appliances then
at command provided no effectual check, and the prospect
of deliverance by supernatural aid was eagerly welcomed. It
has been said of the time preceding the Reformation that
there was a saint specially to be invoked for each particular
ail that could afllict humanity, and the plague was too widely
known to be neglected in this respect. A Frenchman named
Roche or Roque, who in his lifetime had the reputation of
working miraculous cures, and who died in the year 1327,
was canonised, and thereafter regarded as a saint whose inter-
cession was specially devoted to the relief of those afflicted
by the malady. Churches were dedicated to St. Roche in
various countries, and it seems to have been a custom that
^G/asg. Arch. Trans, v. pp. 51-8.
PRE-REFORMATION CHURCHES 239
persons dying of the plague should be buried in adjoining
cemeteries. In 1502, and for a few years previously, the
inhabitants of Edinburgh suffered severely from the trouble,
and it was probably in connection with this visitation that
a chapel dedicated to St. Roque was erected in their burgh
muir. As shown by the Lord High Treasurer's accounts,
King James on 20th March, 1 501-2, gave 14s. to the " wrichtis
of Sanct Rochis Chapel"; on nth July he supplied the
chapel with 15 ells of linen cloth ; and on 30th October
there was paid the large sum of /^lo los. "to the French
frere (friar) that brocht ane bane of Sanct Rowk to the
King." This relic was no doubt regarded as a powerful
antidote to the pest, and it was probably placed in the chapel,
where in subsequent years the king made occasional offerings.
It was just about this time that a church dedicated to St.
Roche was founded in Glasgow. On 20th June, 1506, a
property in Ratounraw was conveyed to Sir Thomas Forbes,
chaplain of the Church of St. Roche, founded and then about
to be built " in territorio Glasguensiy ^ Passing through the
variations of Roque, Rowk, and Rollock, the name has for
some time settled into the well-known form of St. Rollox ;
and the site, though not precisely identified, was apparently
between what are now Glebe Street and Castle Street near
the place intersected by the canal. A cemetery and croft
surrounded the church, and through part of these grounds
the modern Tennant Street and Kennedy Street are formed.
The church site and grounds appear to have been part of
the town's common muir, and, therefore, it is probable that
the community were the originators of the scheme. In 1508,
Thomas Muirhead, a canon of the Cathedral and rector of
Stobo, endowed two chaplainries in the church, and appointed
^Dioc. Reg. Prot. No. i8i.
240 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
the Town Council as patrons of one of them.^ On the
foundation, about twenty years later, of the Collegiate Church
of St. Mary, in which the Town Council took a special
interest, the chaplainry of which they were patrons was merged
in one of the prebends of the Collegiate Church, but provision
was made for continuance in the church of St. Roche of the
religious observances prescribed by the founder.^ The Dean
and Chapter of Glasgow were patrons of the other chaplainry.
Besides the croft lands, the church had endowments from
property and annualrents in different parts of the city, all
of which, except, perhaps, the revenue of the chaplainry which
was under the patronage of the Town Council, came into the
possession of Glasgow University along with the other ecclesi-
astical property transferred to it subsequent to the Reformation.
Edinburgh records show that the chapel there was used not
only for religious services connected with visitations of the
pest, but also for the secular operation of disinfection, while
those who died of the malady were interred in the adjoining
burying ground. Unfortunately, the extant Council records
of Glasgow do not commence till 1573, and no information
as to its chapel is available from that source ; but it may
safely be assumed that both chapel and cemetery were applied
to purposes similar to those in Edinburgh. One may almost
go a step farther, and surmise that the structural arrangements
of the two chapels would be somewhat similar ; and in this
connection it is interesting to note that the ruins of the
Edinburgh chapel, as they existed about the year 1770, are
depicted in a sketch which first appeared in Hugo Arnot's
History of Edinburgh, and which has been reproduced in
Cassell's Old and New Edinburgh. Arnot alludes to the
^ Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 97-9 ; ii. pp. 479-80.
'^Lib. Col. p. 32.
PRE-REFORMATION CHURCHES 241
ruins as those of a " large chapel." His sketch shows the
gables and one of the side walls of a one-story building.
In one of the gables is a large doorway with a Gothic
arch. Captain Grose gives another view of the chapel, and
mentions that it was taken in 1788, at which time there
were " little more than the two gable ends and part of the
side walls standing." The ruins finally disappeared in the
beginning of last century.
In the year 1569 Glasgow Town Council, acting under
authority contained in Queen Mary's gift of the kirk livings,
transferred the Church of St. Roche and its cemetery to
feuars, but reserved right to bury the dead ot the city in
the cemetery in all time coming. This provision is said to
have been taken advantage of during an epidemic of the
plague in 1645-6. It would almost seem as if more than
right of burial was possessed by the Town Council, as, by
a tack dated 3rd June, 1665, they gave a nineteen years' lease
of "that kirkyaird called St. Rollok's Kirkyaird, and haill
grase thereof," on condition that the tenant should not delve
or till the yard, and that it should be lawful for the town
council " to caus burie the corpes of any persone whatsom-
ever they pleas within the said kirkyaird at all tymes." ^ The
yard, which is described in the tack as lying " neir to that
place called Plummers holl," was "still conspicuous" when
M'Ure wrote in 1736 ; but there is reason to believe that
towards the end of that century, in consequence of drainage
and the progress of building in the neighbourhood, any trace
of the ancient landmark would gradually disappear.^
^ Glasg. Rec. iii. p. 54. '^ Antea, pp. 134-8.
242 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
THE COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF ST. MARY
AND ST. ANN.
The last and, with the exception of the Cathedral, the most
ambitious scheme of church-founding in Glasgow previous to
the Reformation was instituted less than forty years before
the collapse of the ancient system and the suppression of the
Roman ritual. James Houstoun, the founder, when his name
is first mentioned in connection with the new church, is
designated vicar of Eastwood, but latterly he held the
subdeanery, one of the richest prebends in the Cathedral.
Roland Blacader, the previous subdean, had been a liberal
donor, founding a chaplainry in the Cathedral and a hospital
for casual poor at the Stablegreen port, the northern entrance
to the city. He likewise left ^^300 towards the building of
a monastery near the Church of St. Tenew, to be dedicated
to St. Katherine of Senis, and ;^ioo for building a hospital
near the new Collegiate Church.^ Owing probably to the
advent of the Reformation neither monastery nor hospital
came into existence. In February, 1523-4, Houstoun set
aside a property on the south side of the Street of St. Tenew
for the building of the new church, and some progress seems
to have been made with its erection. On 29th April, 1525,
Archbishop Dunbar, along with the dean and chapter,
assembled in the chapter-house of the Cathedral, had the
founder's proposals under consideration, and he was authorised
to proceed with the work on condition that the endowments
were sufficient.^ At this time there is no allusion to a
collegiate arrangement, the designation being simply the
Church of the glorious Virgin Mary of Laureto and St. Anne
her mother. The site chosen is now occupied by the Tron
1 Lib. Col. p. Ixxii. ^ Qlasg. Chart, ii. pp. 494-7.
PRE-REFORMATION CHURCHES 243
Church. In 1525 there were comparatively few buildings so
far west from the Cross. Between the church and the street
a vacant space was set aside as burying-ground, and there
were plots to the south and west laid out as gardens for the
prebendaries, while immediately adjoining was the open field
called Mutland Croft. Preliminaries being satisfactorily ad-
justed, the scope of the new foundation developed into larger
proportions, and its equipment was proceeded with till by
the year 1548 the Collegiate Church had attained its full
complement of a provost, eleven canons or prebendaries, and
three choristers. The abbot and convent of Kilwinning trans-
ferred to the church the vicarage of Dairy, as an endowment
for the provost, whom they, as patrons, appointed. The
prioress and convent of the Cistertian nunnery of North
Berwick, as patrons of the church of Maybole, gave that
benefice to the first prebendary, styled the arch-priest. Under
the same patronage the " greater sacrist," who kept the books,
chalices, copes, vestments, and ornaments, held the second
prebend, and received one-half of the fruits of the vicarage
of Maybole. The " lesser sacrist," elected by the provost and
prebendaries, had to ring the bells, light the candles, open and
shut the church doors, and keep the keys. The Magistrates
and Council nominated the third prebendary, who had charge
of the organ, and was bound to keep a song school for the
instruction of youth. His benefice consisted of the rent of
a house in Saltmarket, and his school was situated on the
west side of the church. The fourth and fifth prebends (St.
Mary and St. James) were also in the patronage of the Town
Council, and their endowments consisted of lands, houses,
and rents. St. Roch, or Rocque, was the designation of the
sixth prebendary, who, as already mentioned, had to continue
religious services in the chapel on the moor, as well as to
244 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
perform other duties in the new church. St. Kentigern, St.
Nicholas, and St. Andrew were the designations of the next
three prebends, all of which were under the patronage of the
Town Council. That body had, with the consent of the
community, gifted to the church i6 acres of land in Gallow-
muir, and these lands were allotted to eight of the prebendaries.
Sir Martin Reid, chaplain of the altar of St. Martin in the
Cathedral, founded the tenth and eleventh prebends, and
assigned the patronage of both to the Magistrates and Council.
The twelfth and last prebend was that of the three choristers,
one of whom was to be chosen by the Town Council and the
other two by the provost of the Collegiate Church. Besides
the preponderance which the Town Council had in patronage,
they were also entrusted with the supervision of the church
building and of the houses forming the endowments. Ample
details regarding the foundation of " Our Lady College " and
its endowments, the rules prescribed for the conduct of its
affairs, the masses and other religious services, in some of
which poor people, men and matrons, almsmen and lepers,
were assigned a share, will be found in the Register edited
for the Maitland Club by Dr. Joseph Robertson, whose preface
no one interested in Glasgow history should fail to read.
Nothing is known as to the architectural style of the build-
ings, and apart from what is contained in the printed register
there are only a few incidental references to the church during
the time it was occupied as such. One of these occurs in
a protocol dated 13th March, 1556-7, where a redemption
price is stated to be payable "in the Collegiate Church of
St. Mary the Virgin, in Glasgow, on the high altar thereof." ^
Within two or three years after this the new system was
introduced, and the church ceased to be available for the
^ Glas. Plot. No. 1337.
PRE-REFORMATION CHURCHES 245
purpose for which it was founded. In a historical fragment
published by the Wodrow Society, it is related that on 2nd
July, 1559, "my Lord of Glenkarne, with the gentlemen
of the West Countrie, came to Edinburgh, after that they
had purged the churches in Glasgow of idolatrie." ^ This
reference to purging implied that the altars, images, and
ornaments had been removed, leaving little more than the
bare walls. But the dismantling does not seem to have
stopped at the furnishings, as eleven years afterwards the
church is described as " destroyed and thrown down." The
church and its revenues were included in Queen Mary's grant
to the town in 1566-7, but as the prebendaries were left in
possession of their benefices during their respective lifetimes,
the gift was not immediately productive. In August, 1570,
the Town Council feued the church site and cemetery for
payment of £^ 6s. 8d. Scots yearly,^ and two years afterwards
they transferred to the University nearly all they got from
Queen Mary. Certain annual rents of the Collegiate Church
were retained for bursaries, but instead of being appHed for
the benefit of poor students, these revenues were monopolised
by the " richest menis sonnes," and they were accordingly
resumed in 1594 and given to the city ministers.^
The sites of the Collegiate Church and cemetery were
possessed by the feuar and his successors till 1592, when
they were reacquired by the Town Council, who reconstructed
the old church and fitted it up as a Protestant place of worship.
The present church was erected on the the site of the former
building, which was destroyed by fire in 1793. In con-
sequence of its detached position the Tron Kirk steeple
escaped that conflagration. Heightened between the years
^ Wodrow Miscellany, i. p. 62. ^ q/^s. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 140-5.
^ lb. pp. 242-3.
246 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
1630 and 1636, there is some uncertainty as to when the
lower part of this structure was built. A " belhous," which
had been used in connection with the original church, was
let to a tenant who, for the year 1593, when the church was
being reconstructed, was allowed an abatement of rent " in
respect the steiple was tane downe." ^ A new steeple appears
to have been then erected, but whether on the old or on a
new site is not known, and it was this steeple which was
heightened into its existing shape in 1630-6. Unless, there-
fore, the ** new steeple" erected about 1593-5, rested on
some part of an older fabric, no part of the existing masonry
can be claimed as belonging to the original church, but it
seems certain that the foundations were laid more than 300
years ago, while the upper part wants only thirty years to
reach its tercentenary.
The chapels and churches above referred to complete the
list of those occupying independent positions. The conventual
church of the Blackfriars has already been alluded to,^ and
the chapels attached to St. Nicholas Hospital, in Castle Street,
and the Leper Hospital, in Gorbals, will be noticed in con-
nection with the institutions to which they were related.
^ Glasg. Rec. i. p. 175. '^ Antea, p. 189.
XVII.
PRE-REFORMATION HOSPITALS OF GLASGOW
THE HOSPITAL OF ST. JOHN OF POLMADIE
TO those versed in Covenanting annals Polmadie will ever
be associated with one of the darkest of those shady
deeds which stained the Scottish Administration of the last
of the Stuart kings. Wodrow's narrative, repeated as it has
been by most historians of the period, and epitomised in
the well-known inscription in Cathcart Kirkyard, has made
the story of the Polmadie martyrs familiar to many people
who may not be aware that some centuries earlier there
existed in the same locality a retreat for poor people, patronised
by royalty and endowed by the pious and benevolent of many
successive generations.
In early times hospitals for the reception of the poor and
the sick, as well as for the entertainment of pilgrims and
travellers, were numerous. Near the entrances to towns
hospitals for the sick were usually placed, while on the sides
of highways, at the approaches to ferries, and on mountain
passes accommodation for those requiring shelter was provided.
Regarding one of those outlying hospitals, that of Soutra,
in Haddingtonshire, placed on a bleak mountain ridge, fuller
particulars than usual have been preserved. Soutra is supposed
248 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
to have been founded by King Malcolm IV., and was used
partly for the celebration of religious services and partly for
the support of poor persons and accommodation of travellers.
Like it, Polmadie Hospital was not improbably a royal founda-
tion, but, so far as situation is concerned, it can be classed
neither with the Haddingtonshire establishment nor yet as a
town hospital. According to reliable etymologists, the name
Polmadie, signifying wolf's pool, was originally applied to
the stream which forms the eastern boundary of the lands.
Later names are Mallsmyre Burn, so called from the myre
or marsh where it rises, and Jenny's Burn, for some reason
not yet expounded. Since the acquisition of Richmond Park,
which it intersects, the burn is more conspicuous, and is likely
to become better known. It is understood that the hospital
occupied a site opposite to what is now Richmond Park,
on the south side of Rutherglen Road and west side of the
burn, ground which has now been laid out for building
purposes. The existing road is in the line of an ancient
thoroughfare leading between King David's burgh of Ruther-
glen and the ancient monastery and town of Govan. A Roman
highway is said to have passed through Mallsmyre in the
direction of Paisley, and it has been supposed that one branch
road from that highway led southward, while another branch
passed northward across the river Clyde and through Glasgow.
The hospital may thus have been situated at the intersection
of several ancient thoroughfares, attracting wayfarers from all
parts. There is no clue to the date of foundation, and no
definite information regarding the founder, though a royal
origin may not unreasonably be conjectured. That royal
foundations of this sort were not uncommon is indicated bv
the terms of an Act of Parliament passed by King James I.
when he was attempting to put national affairs in order on
PRE-REFORMATION HOSPITALS 249
his return from captivity. By statute 1424, c. 2, it was
ordained that hospitals for the poor and sick "fundit of almous
dedis throu Kingis," should be visited by the Chancellor, " as
hais been done in the Kingis progenitouris tymis," and those
founded by bishops or other lords, spiritual or temporal, were
to be visited by the bishops and others concerned, the object
of such inspection being the reform of the hospitals " to the
effec of thare first fundacione." Polmadie appears in record
as one of the boundaries of the territory which King David I.
gave to his burgesses of Rutherglen, but there is no extant
reference to the hospital earlier than the reign of Bruce. A
charter then granted, however, shows that the hospital existed
at least as early as the reign of Alexander III. By that
charter, which was granted by King Robert at Rutherglen
in 1 31 6, it was ordered that the masters, brethren, and sisters
of the " Hospital of Polmade, near Ruglen," should enjoy
all the privileges which they had in the time of Alexander,
the king's predecessor, and specially that no one should seize
the goods belonging to them in " Strablathy," or any other
place, and that no one should presume to trouble or molest
them, contrary to the king's protection. ^ '* Strablathy,"
indicating the kirk and kirklands of Strathblane, was an endow-
ment, the origin of which cannot be traced. This connection
with Strathblane gave the Lords of Lennox an interest in
the hospital, and in 1333 Earl Malcolm confirmed to the
brothers and sisters freedom from all kinds of service, burdens,
and exactions, both as regarded their own house and their
church of Strathblane.^ The bishops of Glasgow likewise
exercised authority in the hospital's affairs. In 13 16 Bishop
Robert appointed Sir Patrick Floker to be master and guardian
of the hospital, with power to exercise discipline over the
1 Reg. Episc. No. 265. 2 /^_ No. 284.
250 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
brethren, sisters, and pensioners. Floker was at the time con-
nected with the church of Kilpatrick, and it was a condition of
his new appointment that he should employ a curate to officiate
at Kilpatrick in his absence, so that divine service should
not suffer, nor the church be defrauded of its offerings.^ Four
years afterwards Bishop John made a substantial addition to
the endowments. The revenue was found to be insufficient
for continuing the celebration of divine service and the main-
tenance of the poor brothers and sisters dwelling in the
hospital, and the bishop, therefore, gave for these purposes
the east half of his adjoining lands of Little Govan.^ Among
the meagre details of management there is one instance of a
Glasgow bishop presenting a beneficiary to the hospital, and
another of the same bishop objecting to the administration
of its affairs by a nominee of the Earl of Lennox.
In all the documents hitherto noticed the hospital is styled
simply the Hospital of Polmadie. A fuller designation occurs
in a writ, which had a curious origin. When King Edward II.
was at York in July, 1319, on the eve of his unsuccessful
invasion of Scotland, he issued presentations to a large number
of prebends, churches, and other benefices in that country,
and included in the list is a grant to William de Houk of
the guardianship of the " Hospital of St. John of Polmadde
in Cliddisdale." ^ It is not probable that the appointment took
effect. In 1347 the Queen of David II. presented a master
to the hospital ; and this is the last occasion on which royalty
is known to have interposed in its affairs. Between the bishops
and the earls there were apparently rival claims of long stand-
ing ; but these were amicably settled in 1424, when Earl
Duncan renounced all right which he or his progenitors had
1 Reg. Episc. No. 263. ^ lb. No. 269.
^Parish ofStrathblane, by J. Guthrie Smith, p. 170.
PRE-REFORMATION HOSPITALS 251
assumed over the hospital and its annexed church and church
lands of Strathblane.^ This arrangement resulted in a radical
change, as the hospital and its united church were forthwith
erected into a prebend of the Cathedral, and the endowments
applied towards improving the music in the choir. If the
hospital, as a refuge for poor men and women, did not then
terminate, the close must have been reached in 1453, at which
time Isabella, Duchess of Lennox and Countess of Albany,
daughter and heiress of Earl Duncan, founded the Collegiate
Church of Dumbarton ; and by some arrangement, to which
the Bishop of Glasgow must have been a party, though the
particulars are not now extant, the whole endowments of the
hospital, both in Strathblane and Little Govan, were transferred
to the Collegiate Church. It happens that just about that
time St. Nicholas Hospital in Glasgow was founded by Bishop
Muirhead ; and therefore it is not improbable that the new
foundation was to some extent designed to carry on the
beneficent work of its predecessor at Polmadie.
LEPER HOSPITAL AT GORBALS.
At the distance of little more than a mile west from
Polmadie another hospital existed from an early date. Used
for the reception of lepers, this hospital was one of a numerous
class not only in this country, but throughout Europe. From
the tenth to the sixteenth century leprosy prevailed in almost
every district. One of the virtues attributed to St. Kentigern
by Joceline of Furness was that of cleansing lepers, and he
further asserts that affected persons who visited the saint's
tomb were healed. Joceline wrote in the twelfth century,
and his views were no doubt tinged with the notions and
^ Parish of Strathblane, by J. Guthrie Smith, p. 170.
252 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
experiences of the period. An old burgh law, which may
have been in force in Joceline's time, directed that those
afflicted with leprosy who had sufficient means should resort
to the hospital, while for those in poverty the burgesses
were to gather money for their sustenance and clothing.
Another law provided for the collection of alms " for the
sustenance of lepers in a proper place outwith the burgh."
By one of the early Acts of King James I. lepers were
allowed to enter towns on certain occasions, but not to ask
alms " except at their awin hospitale and at the port of the
toune and uther places outwith the borowis." The story
current since M'Ure's time of Lady Lochow being the founder
of Gorbals Hospital receives no support from extant records,
and seems to have been based on a fallacy. There is little
doubt that, in compliance with the statutory enactments above
alluded to, the Bishops of Glasgow provided accommodation
for the lepers of their burgh. Gorbals, on the south side
of the river Clyde, formed part of Govan lands bestowed
on the see by David I., and its position outside the town's
gates complied with the necessary requirements for a site.
A bridge over the Clyde existed before the end of the
thirteenth century, and it is possible that the hospital, placed,
as it was, only a few yards beyond the south end of that
structure, would then be in use. In accordance with custom,
a cemetery adjoined the hospital, and there was a vacant space
in front towards the river. Hospital and grounds were thus
close by and on the east side of the thoroughfare which
then led southwards in the line of the modern Main Street.
A chapel in connection with the hospital, but situated about
lOO yards farther south, where the thoroughfare just mentioned
joined Rutherglen Lone, was founded by William Steward,
a canon of the Cathedral. Both hospital and chapel were
PRE-REFORMATION HOSPITALS 253
dedicated to St. Ninian, who was the favourite patron saint
of such institutions. In 1494, shortly after the chapel was
built, the founder endowed it with a tenement on the
south side of Bridgegate and various annualrents, stipulating
that yearly, on the anniversary of his death, twenty-four poor
scholars should assemble in the chapel and celebrate services
for the weal of his soul and of the souls of all the faithful dead.
Each of the poor scholars who performed the duty was to
receive a penny, and on such occasions twelve pennies were to
be given to the lepers. The lepers dwelling in the hospital
were directed to ring the chapel bell every night, and to
pray in the chapel for their benefactors.^ Endowments of
the hospital were sometimes bestowed for securing the inter-
cession of the inmates for the souls of the donors. Thus,
on 30th June, 1485, Thomas Huchonson, burgess and citizen,
with consent of George Huchonson, his father, gifted an
annualrent to the poor and leprous persons, male as well as
female, dwelling in the hospital, they being enjoined to make
earnest supplications in their daily prayers for the souls of
George Huchonson, his wife and their children, and for the
souls of their parents and all the faithful dead. The gift was
announced at the hospital to " all the men and women " there
assembled, and they appointed a procurator to receive formal
possession on their behalf.^
With the commencement of the Council records in 1573
a few particulars are procurable regarding the hospital and
its administration. In that year four lepers were " secludit
of the toun to the hospital," and in the following year four
persons were " fund leper, and decernit to be banist or
ellis to pas to the hospital." In 1578-9 six persons "suspect
'^Reg. Episc. No. 469; Glasg. Prot. No. 1876.
'^Glasg. Chart, ii. pp. 465-7.
254 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
of lepir" had the alternative of the hospital or banishment,
and in 1581 a similar number were directed "to remane in
thair awin housses, or ellis to pas beyond the brig to the
hospitall." On each Wednesday and Saturday, between the
hours of ten and two, the inmates were allowed to leave
the hospital and visit the town, not, however, to go into
the houses of their friends, but to " gang upone the calsay
syd, with their mussellis on thair face, and clopperis " to
warn people of their approach.^ Subsequent to the Reforma-
tion the kirk-session occasionally took some interest in the
hospital's affairs, but the management chiefly devolved on
the Town Council and the Water Bailie. From a rental
which appears in the Council record on 5th August, 1654,
it is ascertained that the fixed revenues then consisted of two
bolls of victual, yearly, from each of the Abbey of Paisley,
the Bishopric of Glasgow, and Lord Maxwell's lands of
Mearns, a feuduty of £6 13s. 6d., and nine small sums
making together ^5 I5s.^ By that time the charge of the
hospital was entirely in the hands of the Town Council ;
and when King Charles, in 1636, granted his general
confirmation, " the hous called the Lipper Hous or Sanct
Ninianis Hospitall, with yards and pertinents thereof," were
included in the city's possessions. M'Ure states that the
hospital buildings had disappeared many years before he
published his history in 1736, and that the site was then
in the possession of feuars. The last remnant of the grounds
is heard of in 1798, when the Town Council sold a "piece
of vacant ground in Gorbals, fronting Adelphi Street, known
by the name of Lepers' Yard." The chapel had a more
prolonged existence. Subsequent to the Reformation the
^ Glasg. Rec. i. p. 23 7,
"^Ib. ii. p. 293; see also Rental printed in Glasg. Chart, ii, pp. 625-6.
PRE-REFORMATION HOSPITALS 255
prescribed religious rites had to be discontinued ; and the
building was for a long time utilised, in connection with
the adjoining fortalice, as a Courthouse and prison for the
barony of Gorbals. Denholm, in his History of Glasgow^
published in 1798, mentions that the lower part of the chapel
was then occupied as the parish school and the two upper
stories as a prison. New buildings for the judicial and
criminal requirements of the barony were acquired about the
year 1827, and thereupon the chapel was sold to a purchaser,
who converted it into dwelling-houses and shops. The old
buildings were at last removed under the authority of the
Improvements Act of 1866.^
HOSPITAL OF ST. NICHOLAS.
Consequent on the erection of the first Glasgow bridge
over the Clyde, and convergence of traffic at that point, the
highways in touch with Polmadie must have lost much of
their importance, and the dissolution of the old hospital was
probably precipitated by the change. Meanwhile the town
of Glasgow was increasing in population and importance, but
the poor we have always with us, and the founding of a new
hospital sufficiently indicates that claims on the benevolent
kept pace with the advance in other departments of social
movement. The episcopate of Bishop Muirhead, founder
of the hospital, commenced in 1455, ^^^^ years after the
University was inaugurated, and lasted till 1473. Previous
to 1455 the Bishop had been a canon of the Cathedral,
but it is understood that the hospital came into existence
during his Episcopal reign. The principal endowments,
consisting of considerable areas of land in nearly every croft
'^Regality Club, iv. pp. 11-3, 35-41.
256 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
in and around the city, could scarcely have been derived from
any other than the territorial lord of Glasgow. The hospital
was dedicated to St. Nicholas, and a site was secured near
the Bishop's Castle, on a piece of ground which appears to
have derived the name of Stablegreen from its proximity
to the castle stables. It is supposed that the original grounds
lay on both sides of the streamlet called the Girth Burn, and
included the sites occupied at a later date by the prebendal
manses of Govan' and Renfrew, as feuduties for these have
long been payable to the hospital. The lands forming the
original endowments appear to have been treated on the
system in operation on the Bishop's own estates. Rentallers
were put in possession for payment of rents in grain or money,
and the leases were renewable by their successors on payment
of certain sums on a specified scale. These rents were no
doubt originally adequate, but owing to the rise of prices
and the depreciation of the currency the annual money
payments can now be regarded as little more than nominal.
Rental rights were in course of time converted into feu-
holdings, and the rents into feuduties. Some of these
feuduties are still collected, but others have been redeemed,
while it is believed that not a few have been lost on account
of changes in management and other vicissitudes.
According to the best information now available, the hospital
was originally intended for the accommodation of twelve poor
men and a priest, who exercised control over the establishment,
1 North of the Hospital and south of Govan manse stood the manse of the
prebendary of Provan. This building, latterly known as " Provand's Lord-
ship" and believed to belong, in its older parts, to the fifteenth century, is
still inhabited and has been recently acquired by the " Provand's Lordship
Literary Club" which was instituted for the express purpose of securing its
preservation.
PRE-REFORMATION HOSPITALS 257
258 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
and was designated preceptor, magister, or " maister." If
a foundation charter existed, though the formality of granting
such a writ was perhaps dispensed with, it has not been preserved,
but the scope of some of the regulations can be gathered
from the terms of an agreement entered into in February,
1583-4, for the " reparatioun of certane wrangeis and con-
traversys betwixt the maister and stallaris." Sir Bartholomew
Simpson, the priest who then held the appointment of master,
was one party to this transaction, and the other party was
a representative of the " stallaris and possessouris of the stallis
and beddis of the said hospital," eleven in number (there
appears to have been one vacancy), all of whom are named.
Two of these inmates or " stallaris " have the prefix " Sir,"
denoting the priestly grade, the Reformation being doubtless
responsible for their decayed condition. By the first stipula-
tion for redress of grievances the master became bound to
pay the poor men all arrears, and regularly settle their
monthly allowances in future. As to clothing, each of the
men was to get " ane new quhyte claith goune " every third
year, four of them to be thus clad the first year, the like
number each of the two following years, and so on with
renewals by continuous rotation. Bedding with coverlets
and blankets, straw or heather, with " bousters," were to be
provided for twelve beds ; and each of the poor men was to
be supplied with " ane pair of doubell solit schone " on the
1st of January yearly; " with sax pence to every ane for thair
kaill silvir." Beyond this contribution for " kaill," which
seems to apply to only one day in the year, there is no
reference to food, and therefore it may be assumed that out
of his monthly allowance each had to provide his own meals
as well as any article of clothing other than the yearly
pair of shoes and the triennial gown. Among other comforts,
PRE-REFORMATION HOSPITALS 259
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26o GLASGOW MEMORIALS
the inmates were to be supplied with coals for the fire and
candle at evening " to the prayeris " ; and the hospital
and houses pertaining thereto were to be slated, repaired,
and kept wind and water tight. On the part of the '* tuelf
puir men," it was provided that they should reside in the
hospital and not sell their " claithis on bed or back," nor
remove the bed or bed clothes out of the hospital, and they
were to keep their ordinary hours within the house and
attend the kirk for prayers and preaching. Infringement of
the rules was to be followed by the ejectment of the defaulter
and the appointment of another " stallar " in his place. ^
A chapel connected with the hospital has been described
as built of fine aisler work of a Gothic form, the windows
supported by a buttress betwixt each of them, and over the
front door were Bishop Muirhead's arms, three acorns on
the bend, surmounted by a salmon, and having a crosier
behind the shield. Sketches of the chapel and adjoining
buildings will be found in Stuart's Views of Glasgow and other
works. Cuthbert Simson, notary and chapter clerk, whose
protocols, published in the Diocesan Registers, supply valuable
information regarding old Glasgow, at one time acted as
chaplain and may also have been master of the hospital.
He had accommodation in the building, as is shown by a
protocol narrating that on 6th August, 1510, John Gibson,
parson of Renfrew, equipped with wallet, cloak, cap, and
staff, took leave of the bystanders, and set out on his journey
to Rome, committing himself, his prebend, and property
to the protection of the Holy See. These things, the notary
attests, were " done in my chamber in the hospital of St.
Nicholas." ^ Subsequent to the Reformation, the master then
in office continued to perform the chaplain's duties. Thus
'^ Glasg. Rec. i. pp. 11 5-6. "^ Dioc. Reg. Prot. No. 481.
PRE-REFORMATION HOSPITALS 261
on 15th July, 1 59 1, the kirk-session directed that "the
almshouse men " be present in the kirk every day, at morning
and evening prayers, " to be said to them by thair master
Sir Bartholomew Simpson," and those who failed to obey
the order were to forfeit a week's allowance.
Endowments from extraneous sources were occasionally
bestowed on the hospital. In 1501 Martin Wan, Chancellor
of the Cathedral, gave a number of annual rents for the
support of a poor person to be nominated by the magistrates
and council,^ and a similar endowment was received from
Michael Flemyng, a canon of the Cathedral. The magistrates
and council were themselves patrons of a house at the back of
the hospital fitted up for the reception of four poor men,
and called the " back almous hous." The class entitled to
the benefits of this auxiliary retreat is indicated by an entry
in the Council records in 1584, when supplications were
presented by '* certane decayit burgessis for the stall and
bedrowme vacand in thair handis be deceis of" the last
occupier.^ When and under what circumstances the building
was erected is not known, but it was probably of considerable
age in 1584, as sixteen years afterwards it is described as
ruinous and fallen down. The building material was then
ordered to be removed, and the site given to the four poor
men as a garden.^ Shortly after this the merchants and
craftsmen, in accordance with a provision in the Letter of
Guildry, fitted up hospitals for their respective poor, and in
161 1 the Town Council divided the revenues of the back
almshouse between these two hospitals.*
Subsequent to the Reformation the " fore almous hous,"
or bishops' hospital, was under the charge of preceptors or
^ Glasg. Chart. I. pt. ii. pp. 92-6. ^Glasg. Rec. i. p. 108.
^Ib. p. 210. '^Ib. p. 325.
262 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
masters appointed by the bishops during the periods of
Episcopacy, and at other times the kirk-session and town
council exercised some degree of supervision. In September,
1586, the "chapter and presbytery" deprived Bartholomew
Simpson of his office for not giving the poor men their wages,
gowns, shoes, coals, and other necessaries.-^ Shortly afterwards
one Archibald Eglinton procured both from the king and
the kirk a commission as master of the hospital, but Simpson
seems to have latterly prevailed in maintaining his position.
During the seventeenth century only a few particulars are
known regarding the hospital, such as the donation by
Archbishop Law of 500 marks Scots in 1632, and the endow-
ment by Archbishop Leighton in 1677 of ^^ 150 sterling for
the maintenance of two men.^ After the final abolition
of Episcopacy in 1689 the Court of Exchequer in Edinburgh,
on behalf of the Crown, exercised control, but in 1716 the
administration devolved on the magistrates of Glasgow. For
a long time the Lord Provost of the day has acted as
preceptor, and in that capacity has granted charters to the
feuars and appointed the pensioners. The hospital buildings
appear to have been deserted in the latter half of the eighteenth
century. In 1778 it was reported that "all the old houses
which originally belonged to the hospital (except the chapel)
have for many years past been totally ruinous and uninhabited."
The Town Council at that time took over the site, for which
they have since contributed £^ yearly to the funds. The
chapel appears to have stood for about other twenty years, but it
also became ruinous, and was removed. In 18 10 the combined
sites of hospital and chapel, embracing an area of 15 10 square
yards, were conveyed to a purchaser. St. Nicholas Street
'^ Hospital of St. Nicholas, by Sir Michael Connal, p. 23.
"^Glasg. Chart, ii. p. 371 ; see Rental of Hospital, ib. pp. 626-30.
PRE-REFORMATION HOSPITALS 263
was formed along the north boundary, but this thoroughfare
was closed when the Townhead gasworks were constructed.
Macleod Street and the buildings of the new Barony Church
now occupy the greater part of the ground on which the
old hospital and chapel stood. The annual revenues of the
hospital are now given in moieties of £2 each to pensioners,
of whom there were lately three men and eighteen women
on the roll.
BLACADER'S HOSPITAL, NEAR STABLE-GREEN.
Roland Blacader, the founder of this hospital, was a nephew
of the first Archbishop of Glasgow, in whose time he obtained
the subdeanery. The precise date of foundation is not known,
but there is documentary evidence to show that it must have
been in 1524 or within a few years earlier or later. The
subdean likewise endowed a chaplainry at the altar of St.
John the Baptist and St. Nicholas in the Cathedral, and he
directed that the chaplain should be master of the new hospital
and collector of its revenues. Situated outside the North
Port of the city, where Dobbie's Loan joins Castle Street,
the hospital was adapted for the reception of wayfarers, and
it is described as a " house of the poor and indigent casually
coming thereto." The chaplain had his chamber within the
house, the keeper of which, appointed by the chaplain, was
to be a trustworthy married man, of good life and honest
conversation. The keeper and his wife were required to
dwell in the house and take charge of bed clothing for the
poor. There were to be six beds furnished with blankets,
coverlets, and pillows. Vegetables and herbs for the poor
were to be grown in the garden, and lentils were to be
purchased, " with which lentils the keeper and his wife shall
264 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
cook green vegetables, with garden herbs, on the evening
of every night, for the feeding and nourishment of the poor
assembling there." When herbs were not in season the diet
was changed to " white gruel " cooked from the lentils.
Coals were to be bought for the fire, an iron grate procured
for the fireplace, and special directions were given for the
purchase of " an iron pot, containing two quarts, for cooking
gruel or vegetables, and a caldron, also containing two quarts,
for washing the feet of the poor." ^ Sir William Crawfurd,
the first chaplain, was appointed by the founder, and he held
office till about the year 1589. By that time the Town Council
had obtained a grant of chaplainries to be applied towards
" ministry and hospitality," but reserving to the possessors
their benefices during their lifetimes. In 1589 the chaplainry
" quhairunto is annexit the new hospitall besyd the Stabilgrene "
was apparently at the disposal of the Town Council, and they
bestowed it on one Thomas Cloggie during his lifetime, he
being bound to uphold the hospital conform to the foundation.
An inspection of the premises followed, and this is the report
of their condition : " The yaird dyke, the north syd thairof
Weill dykit and kaipit with stane, and ane haill hedge on the
south syd thairof, the well weill kaipit with stane ane elne
above the eird, with the yaird yett sufficient and lokfast.
Item, the heich chalmer of the said hospitall weill loftit and
jestit ; twa windois within the samyn staincherit with irne;
ane stand bed fixit in the wall of the said chalmer, weill
bandeit ; ane pantrie dure and ane saig dure . . . without
has ane sufl^cient guid dure and foir yett weill wallit and
lokit, with ane raill galrie stair and ane turlies upoun the
northmost windo thairof Item, fand the laich hous thairof
with sex stand beddis of aik sufficient, with ane pantrie lokfast,
'^Glasg. Prot. No. 618.
PRE-REFORMATION HOSPITALS 265
and ane mekill kist standand within the same claspit with irne
on everie nook. Item, fand the coilhous dure sufficientlie
lokit and bandit, weill wallit and kapit round about. Item,
the haill houssis of the said hospitall sufficient in ruif, tymmer,
sklait, and watterfast. Item, fand ane doubill foiryett bandit,
without ane lok, with the wallis of the clois weill kapit round
about." Cloggie undertook to maintain the place in good
order, and to observe the terms of " fundatioun " in all points,^
but his management did not meet with approval, and the
church authorities on one occasion interposed by appointing
a master of the hospital. Whatever may have been the effect
of these proceedings, it appears that Cloggie retained substantial
possession, and it was even asserted that he applied the fruits
and profits of the chaplainry, with the house and yard, " to
his awin propir uses, quhilk appertenit to the puir of befoir."
In 1605 the crafts of Glasgow set about the erection of a
hospital for their decayed brethren, and they purchased
Cloggie's rights, with the view, apparently, of occupying the
buildings under his charge.^ But other counsels prevailed,
and the crafts' hospital was eventually erected on the site of
the parson of Morebattle's manse, adjoining the hospital of
St. Nicholas. In 16 10 Blacader's Hospital, the last of its
class in Glasgow which can be traced to pre-Reformation
times, was conveyed to a feuar,^ and the site has since been
possessed as private property.
^ Glasg. Rec. i. p. 148. '^ Glasg. Prot. No. 619. ^ lb. No. 621.
XVIII.
PROVISION FOR THE CITY MINISTERS
OF GLASGOW
THROUGHOUT Christendom a tenth part of the produce
of land was from an early date claimed by the clergy,
and was gradually appropriated by law for their maintenance.
In Scotland the exaction of teinds, as the tenths were called, is
traceable as far back as the beginning of the twelfth century.
For a long time preceding the Reformation there were two
classes of teinds — viz., those payable to the parson out of grain
raised by culture, and those payable to the vicar out of hay,
lint, cattle, fowls, and other minor products. The original
aim seems to have been the securing of adequate spiritual
supervision for each parish, but in course of time this
goodly purpose was often frustrated through the prevalent
practice of assigning the teinds of various districts to distant
monasteries, abbeys, and other religious houses. These big
establishments thereupon collected the parson's revenues and
deputed his duties to an underpaid priest. In other cases the
teinds were in the possession of a parson whose other appoint-
ments precluded him from giving attention to parochial affairs.
Glasgow teinds remained with the parson and vicar respectively
till after the Reformation, though as regards the former it may
be doubted whether he had latterly much opportunity for
PROVISION FOR CITY MINISTERS 267
personal service. In 1538 Henry Sinclair, a younger son
of Sir Oliver Sinclair of Roslin, obtained the parsonage from
Archbishop Dunbar, and held it till shortly after the Reforma-
tion. At the time when he became parson, Sinclair was a
Lord of Session, and was President of the Court in 1558.
Still further going into pluraHties, he obtained the Abbacy of
Kilwinning in 1542, and exchanged that benefice for the
deanery of Glasgow in 1550. In 1560 he was appointed to
the bishopric of Ross. As the parson had these multifarious
concerns on hand, it is probable that the performance of
parochial duties mainly devolved on the vicar. Particulars
regarding the vicars are scarce, but it is known that Henry
Spreull held the office in 1547 and Robert Herbertson in
1564. Both parson and vicar were members of the cathedral
chapter, the former holding the prebend of Glasgow primo and
the latter that of Glasgow secundo. In compliance with the
requirement of the Privy Council, for the purpose of ascertain-
ing the "thirds" to be collected by the Crown, the parson
reported^ the annual value of his benefice at 32 chalders 8 bolls
meal, 9 chalders 3 boils bear, 3 barrels of herring, and
£16 1 8s. in money. The annual value of the vicarage was
reported at £6^ 13s. 4d., consisting of " corse presentis,"
i.e. funeral gifts ; " umest cloathis," being the uppermost
clothes or outer garments of wearing apparel received on the
death of parishioners ; " teynd lint and hemp, teynd of the
yeards of Glasgow, the third part of the teynd of the boats
arriving at the brig of Glasgow, Pashe fynes, teynd of the
browsters, and the oblationes at Pashe. For the other duties
of the vicarage, viz. lamb wool, hay, the teynd of the ky,
1M5. Parsonage of Glasgow, Appendix, pp. 173-4. ^^ ^i^^ ^^ observed that
some of the items in this MS. vary from the statement in Origines Parochiales
(i. p. 2) as quoted antea, p. 220.
268 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
the twa pairt of the teynd of the water, they pertain to the
parson." In a satirical poem, titled " Duncan Laider or
Macgregor's Testament," supposed to have been written
during the reign of James V., it is suggested that the typical
parson and vicar of those days were more concerned about
the collection of their revenues and perquisites than the cure
of souls. Part of the " testament " proceeds thus :
" To the Vicar I leif Diligence and care
To tak the upmost claith and the kirk cow,
Mair nor to put the corps in sepulture ;
Have pouir wad six gryis and ane sow,
He will have ane to fill his bellie fowe ;
His thocht is mair upon the Pasche fynis,
Nor the saullis in purgatorie that pynis.
" Oppressioun the Persone I leif untill,
Pouir men's corne to hald upon the rig,
Quhill he get the teynd alhail at his will,
Suppois the bairns thair bread suld go thig ;
His purpois is na kirkis for to big ;
So fair an barne-time God has him send'n
This seven years the queir will lie unmendin."^
Till the parson lifted his teind sheaves from the harvest
field the rest of the crop must not be removed, even though,
as the poet puts it, the poor people's children had to beg their
bread. Parsons were apparently liable for the upkeep of
churches, and it is noticed that in the tacks of Glasgow teinds
there was usually a stipulation for so much money being
expended in repairs on the Cathedral. In the First Book of
Discipline it was proposed that the " uppermost claith," the
" corps-present," the '* Pasche ofFeringis," and " teynd aill "
should cease to be exacted, as they " can neather be required
1 Warton's History of English Poetry, iii, 252-3; Taylor's Pictorial History
of Scotland, i. p. 531.
PROVISION FOR CITY MINISTERS 269
nor ressavit of godlie conscience."^ The continuance of the
other teinds was approved of as the source on which ministers'
stipends and provision for schools and the poor should mainly
depend. Henry Sinclair died in January, 1564-5, and the
parsonage was then bestowed on Alexander Lauder, whose
tenure of it is chiefly noticeable on account of his having been
sued before the Privy Council, and by them decerned to
" furneis breid and wyne to the halie communion," as his
predecessor had done *' continuewalie sen the Reformatioun
of religioun within this realme."^ Archibald Douglas, grandson
of John, second Earl of Morton, next succeeded to the
parsonage, which he obtained by Crown gift on 25th August,
1570.^ By this time the General Assembly of the Kirk were
endeavouring to secure the appointment of qualified ministers
to church benefices, and the admission of Douglas was at first
refused till he passed the necessary examination. Richard
Bannatyne's contemporaneous account of the candidate's
appearance before the General Assembly at Stirling in August,
1 57 1, has often been quoted, but may bear repetition :
" When he come to the place of examinatione, wanting a
psalme buke, and luking till sum gud fellow suld len him
one, Mr. David Wemys bad give him the Greik Testament,
but he said — ' Think ye, sir, that everie minister that occupeis
the pulpet hes Greik .'' ' And when he had gottin the psalme
buike, after luking, and casting over the leives therof a space, he
desyrit sum minister to mak the prayer for him, ' for,' said he,
* I am not used to pray.' Efter he red his text, he sayis ' tor
the conexione of this text I will reid the thing that is befoir,'
and sua red a gud space, till he come whair he began, and sa
continewed his exercis with mony hastlie noses, &c. Ye may
'^ Works of John Knox, ii. pp. 222-4. '^ Priv. Coun. Reg. i. pp. 492-3.
^ Glasg. Chart, i. pt. i. p. dlx.
270 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
persave it was frutfull, seing he culd not pray at the beginning.
O Lord, what salbe said whan sic dum dogis salbe sufFerit to
mock the ministrie of Thy Word and the trueth therof on
this maner."^
A different aspect is put upon the Assembly's proceedings
in a supplication presented by Douglas to the Privy Council
in the following month. It is there set forth that he was a
Senator of the College of Justice, and could not personally
undertake the parson's duties, and that he had no other
benefice or means of sustaining himself in the performance
of his judicial functions ; and he offered to provide the
minister's stipend out of the parsonage revenues. It was
ultimately arranged that the " parson " should pay to the
minister, David Wemyss, a yearly stipend of ;^2oo Scots,
and on these terms he got possession of the benefice.^
Though the resolutions of the Scottish Parliament in
August, 1560 (whereby the Confession of Faith, prepared
by Knox and others, was ratified, the authority of the Pope
renounced, and the celebration of the mass prohibited),
abolished the incomes of the clergy so far as derived from the
exercise of their calling, the change did not directly bring
about the diversion of ecclesiastical endowments. Confiscation
of these followed only when the law was infringed. So long
as the beneficed clergy acquiesced in the new arrangements,
including the contribution of a third of their incomes to
the Crown collectors, they were not disturbed in their
possessions. The bishop was secure in the enjoyment of
his territorial revenues, the parson retained his parochial teinds,
and the chaplain continued to draw the annual rents dedicated
to his altar. In such cases it was only the reversion of the
'^ Bannaty tie's Journal, pp. 312-3.
^ Priv. Come. Reg. ii. pp. 79, 80, 114.
PROVISION FOR CITY MINISTERS 271
benefice which could be disposed of. The general position
of church property in 1560, its management, and the manner
of its distribution make up a complicated story, but for present
purposes it is only necessary to deal with the endowments in
which Glasgow was concerned. Chief of these were the revenues
of the archbishopric, to which reference has already been
made.^ Next in rank to the archbishops were the dignitaries
of the Cathedral — the chancellor, two archdeacons, the sub-
chanter, treasurer, dean and subdean, with an array of ordinary
canons, most of them parsons of rural parishes. Their
individual incomes, varying in amount, were largely derived
from parochial teinds ; but several of them, as previously
mentioned,^ owned estates of considerable extent ; and as
each had to reside in Glasgow for a portion of the year, he
was likewise provided with a town manse. In addition to
their individual possessions, the Cathedral clergy, in their
chapter capacity, held various heritable properties, such as
the " channon lands " in Ayrshire, which were feued out by
a charter granted by the chapter in 1565.3 Subsequent to the
Reformation the canons retained their benefices, during
their respective lifetimes, subject to payment of the
*' thirds," though it would appear that the lands and town
manses of the individual canons, as well as the chapter pro-
perties, were appropriated to the Crown by the Annexation
Act of 1587. Where the lands and manses had been
previously feued by the churchmen in possession, the Crown
would get the feuduties instead of the properties. So far as
can be ascertained, the only portion of property belonging
to the Cathedral clergy which came into the possession of the
community of Glasgow, otherwise than by purchase, consisted
of lands in the vicinity of Rottenrow, which formerly belonged
"^Antea, pp. 98-117. ^ Antea, pp. 207-24. ^ Glnsg. Chart, ii. pp. 522-8.
272 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
to the subdean. These were granted by King James in
1 613, as a return for expenses and charges incurred by the
Magistrates and Council in restoring and repairing the Cathe-
dral and Clyde Bridge, " two monuments and ornaments of
our kingdom of Scotland." The lands are described as
consisting of several acres? but for the reasons already stated
the gift did not practically increase either revenue or territory.^
Archbishop Eyre, in one of his valuable contributions to
the Transactions of the Glasgow Archaeological Society, has
enumerated thirty chapels or altars which at one time or other
were placed in the Cathedral.^ The endowments of these
consisted mainly of feuduties or annual rents payable from
properties in and around Glasgow. The individual sums
were small but numerous, as there was scarcely any property
which had not, in the course of its existence, belonged to
a pious owner, who, in anticipation of spiritual benefits,
conformed to the prevalent custom of burdening it with an
annual payment to an altar. In the aggregate, therefore, the
revenues drawn by the chaplains of the thirty altars were
substantial in amount.
At the Reformation one of the things pressing for immediate
settlement was the making provision for the support of the
ministers of the nc'w faith. The superseded clergy had come
into possession of their benefices and still held them by lawful
procedure, and they could not be deprived of their livings
except by arrangement or a confiscatory law, which it would
have been both unwise and difficult to pass. A temporising
policy was accordingly adopted, and representative men
belonging to the class of beneficed clergy agreed that one-
third of the annual revenues should be given up to the Queen,
partly for her own use and partly for the support of the
'^ Antea^ pp. 215-6. '^ Glasg. Arch. Trans, ii. pp. ^yj-c^j.
PROVISION FOR CITY MINISTERS 273
ministers, on condition that the remaining two-thirds should
be retained by the "auld possessours."^ Crown collectors
were authorised to receive these thirds, and Commissioners
were authorised to modify stipends to the ministers. The
first minister of Glasgow, David Wemys, is supposed to have
been appointed in 1562, but on account of the regrettable
loss of local records for that period the precise date is
uncertain. Qualified ministers were then scarce, and, where
they could not be obtained, readers, so called from it being
their duty to read the Scriptures and common prayers, were
appointed. " Maister James Hammiltoun, redar in the
Kirk of Glasgow," held that office in 1561, and was in
the same year allowed ;^40 yearly, payable out of the
revenues of the Collegiate Church of St. Mary.^ Hammilton
and other readers were continued in Glasgow for some time
after a regular minister was appointed, and probably acted
as assistants. In the well-known work Fasti Ecclesi^e Scoticani^e
it is stated that at first the stipend ot Wemyss was 240 merks
(;/^i6o) Scots, paid by the town, and that from Beltyn, 1569,
it was ;^2oo Scots, paid from the *' thirds " of the arch-
bishopric. As the thirds of the archbishopric had in 1565
been appropriated for the Queen's household, it is just
possible that the parsonage (which was latterly liable) and
not the archbishopric supplied the stipend, but from want
of records this is not definitely known. The earliest authentic
particulars regarding payment of the Glasgow stipend are
procured from a charter dated March 16, 1566-7, whereby
Queen Mary granted to the community of Glasgow all the
churches, chapels, property, and revenues which belonged
to any chaplainries, altarages, and prebends within the city,
and also the places belonging to the friars. In this charter
^ Priv. Counc. Reg. i. p. 202. ^Ib. pp. 498 9.
s
274 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
it was directed that the proceeds of the endowment were to
be applied in support of the ministers and readers and the
bearing of other ecclesiastical charges.^ As, however, the
chaplains, prebendaries, and friars were entitled to retain
possession of their benefices during their lifetimes, there was
at first little or nothing derivable for the ministers, and in
the following year the grant was supplemented by a Crown
charter, in which there were bestowed on the community
the " thirds " of all the altarages and chaplainries contained in
Queen Mary's gift.^ In the interval between the receiving
of these charters the Privy Council had directed that the
inhabitants of Glasgow should by taxation raise ;^8o of the
minister's stipend, and that the Magistrates and Council
should pay the rest of the ecclesiastical expenditure out of
the proceeds of Queen Mary's gift.^ This arrangement
probably existed till 1572, when, as already mentioned, the
minister was allowed ;^2oo out of the parsonage teinds.
From that date till the present time the stipends of at least
one and sometimes more of the city ministers have been paid
out of the parochial teinds.
The minister being thus provided with stipend from a
source which was regarded as the peculiar patrimony of the
Church, the ecclesiastical revenues which had been conferred by
Queen Mary were set free for other purposes. The College,
then in the course of being remodelled, was much in need of
funds, the " schools and colleges " were *' wholly going to
ruin," and the town's " youth that were formerly trained up
in honesty of life and behaviour, were becoming inactive
through ease, sloth, and wantonness." After careful considera-
tion, ''and with the constant and oft-repeated exhortation,
^ G/asg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 13 1-7. '^Ib. pp. 137-40.
'^Pr'tv. Come. Reg. i. p. 508.
PROVISION FOR CITY MINISTERS 275
persuasion, advice, and help of a much-honoured man, Master
Andrew Hay, rector of the Church of Renfrew, vice-superin-
tendent and rector of our University," the Magistrates and
Council, by a charter dated 8th (ratified by Parliament on
26th) January, 1572-3, conveyed to that institution the bulk
of the property and revenues contained in Queen Mary's
gift. By one of the conditions it was provided that the
regents of the College should, by rotation and as directed by
the elders in Glasgow Kirk Session, read prayers in the
Blackfriars' Church, then belonging to the College. There
were some small ecclesiastical revenues under the patronage
of the Town Council previous to the date of Queen Mary's
gift, and, by the charter to the College, right was reserved
to bestow these in bursaries to sons of burgesses. The
master of the Grammar School was likewise to retain a
chaplainry which had formerly been granted to him. Subject
to these reservations, the Town Council were wholly divested
of all the church endowments which had been transferred to
them.^ The bestowal of bursaries was not a success. It was
found that instead of being a benefit to the poor, as intended,
the bursaries had been monopolised by the " richest menis
sonnes." The revenues, which amounted to about ;^2 50
Scots yearly, were accordingly, under the sanction of Parlia-
ment, resumed and applied towards support of the ministry
in 1594,^ about which time the Tron Church had been
renovated and an additional city minister appointed. This
annual revenue of ^{^250 Scots {£,20 i6s. 8d. sterHng) is really, so
far as the records show, the only portion of the ancient church
endowments which the Magistrates and Council retained.
In the year 1586 Archibald Douglas, the "parson," against
whom a decree of forfeiture had been pronounced in 1581
-^G/asg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 149-63. "^ lb. pp. 242-3.
276 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
on account of alleged complicity in the plot for Darnley's
murder, set the teinds to Walter Stewart, commendator of
Blantyre, for payment of a yearly rent, and this tack was
ratified by Parliament to secure it from challenge on account
of the forfeiture.^ In consequence of this transaction, stipends
payable out of the teinds had to be arranged with the
commendator. In 1588 John Cowper was appointed second
minister, with a stipend of 300 merks, payable out of teinds,
from which source Wemyss was then in receipt of 500 merks.
*' Of their meir liberalitie," the Magistrates and Council
supplemented Cowper's stipend by a yearly allowance of 50
merks Scots in money, four dozen loads of coal, and £10
for house mail.^ It therefore seems clear that in 1588 the
community were under no legal obligation to make provision
for the ministers, and that no more than a small voluntary
contribution for their support was then given out of the
Common Good. In this position ecclesiastical affairs in
Glasgow stood till about the year 1594, when, as above
stated, the Tron Church was renovated and a third minister
appointed.
In 1595 a fourth minister was appointed, and in the
following year the landward district of the parish, thence
known as the " Barony," was put under his charge.
Temporary accommodation was found in the Blackfriars
Church, till the lower church of the Cathedral was fitted up
for the new congregation. The stipend of the " Barony "
minister has always been paid from teinds. About the
year 1597 Douglas demitted the parsonage, and it was then
conferred on David Wemyss, the first minister, burdened, of
course, with the existing tack. On the restoration of
Episcopacy, in 1605, both parsonage and vicarage were
^Glasgozv Chart, i. pt. i. p. dlxi. '^Glasgow Rec. i. p. 150.
PROVISION FOR CITY MINISTERS 277
assigned to Archbishop Spottiswood for his own service and
as a provision for the ministers. David Wemyss and the
minister of the " Barony " were each paid their stipends out
of the parsonage and vicarage, and, in addition, the Archbishop
from that source assigned to Robert Scott, who had succeeded
John Couper, a stipend of 300 merks in money and 28 bolls
of victual ; and to John Bell, of the Tron Kirk, an allowance
of 28 bolls victual, in augmentation of the stipend he drew
from the annual rents already referred to. In 1608-9 ^^^
Archbishop granted to James, Master of Blantyre, and his
heirs a tack of the teind sheaves and other teihds of the
parsonage, together with the teind herring and other teind fish
belonging to the vicarage. The tack, which contains provisions
as to repairs of kirks and payment of ministers' stipends, was
continued till 1648, when the Magistrates and Council, who
by that time had got from the Crown a grant of the parsonage
and vicarage, acquired Lord Blantyre's rights at the price
of ;{|22,ooo Scots.
Meanwhile a fourth city church had been planted. The
population, which has been estimated at 4500 in 1560, had
risen to 7644 in 16 10, and was still on the increase when
in 1 62 1 the old Blackfriars Church, belonging to the College,
was repaired and used as a regular place of worship. The
stipend of Robert Wilkein, the first minister, was 1000 merks
{£SS ^^^- ^^- sterling), and was paid by the city. This is
specially notable because, though sixty years had passed since the
Reformation, it was the first occasion on which the stipend of
a city minister was wholly paid out of the Common Good.
The Council records are wanting at the time, and there is
nothing to show the circumstances under which the obligation
was originally undertaken, but there need be little doubt that
the city authorities, acting on their motto, " Let Glasgow
278 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
Flourish by the Preaching of the Word," voluntarily assumed
responsibility with the view of promoting the moral and
spiritual, as well as the material, welfare of the community.
No further contribution could at that time be expected from
the teinds, as Archbishop Lindsay, to whom they belonged,
was agitating for relief from two out of the three stipends with
which they were already burdened. The resolutions of the
General Assembly at Glasgow in 1638, and the consequent
departure of the bishop, probably put an end to the discussion.
On the eve of these events the College had transferred the
Blackfriars Church to the Town Council on condition that
the latter should maintain it as a city church. A sum of
;^io,ooo Scots (;^833 6s. 8d. sterling) was raised by the
inhabitants as an endowment for the minister's stipend, but
in consequence of the misfortunes which befel the Marquis of
Argyle, with whom the money was invested, it was lost.^
Blackfriars Church was destroyed by fire about the year 1670,
and was not rebuilt till the end of the century, since which
time the minister's stipend has been a charge on the Common
Good.
Shortly after the abolition of Episcopacy in 1639 the Town
Council obtained from the Crown a grant of the teinds, and
bought up Lord Blantyre's rights under the tack. In 1649,
during the subsistence of this arrangement, the ministers of all
the city churches, including the Outer High, established
in 1648, received stipends from teinds, any deficiency being
supplied by the Common Good. In addition to his stipend
(;^iooo Scots), each minister had an allowance of ;^8o Scots in
lieu of a manse. These arrangements, under which the
Magistrates and Council were sole intromitters with the
teinds, did not last long. In consequence of the restoration
^ Glasg. Rec. iii. p. 294.
PROVISION FOR CITY MINISTERS 279
of Episcopacy in 1662 the grants to the city were rescinded,
and the teinds were again annexed to the archbishopric. In
1667 the Town Council got from Archbishop Burnet a tack of
the "Barony" teinds^ under burden of paying the minister's
stipend, and there was probably no surplus. Fourteen years
later Archbishop Ross gave to the Council a tack of teinds of
the " aikers about the town," undertaking out of the yearly
tack duty to pay the stipend of the Cathedral minister, then
designated the " parson of Glasgow."^ A renewal of both
tacks for 19 years from 1684 was obtained, but, owing to the
abolition of Episcopacy five years afterwards, arrangements
had to be made with the Crown authorities for continuance of
the tacks.^
During the final rule of the archbishops (1662-89) ^^^
Cathedral and Barony ministers alone drew their stipends from
the teinds. All the other city ministers received their stipends
from the Common Good, and this system was continued
subsequent to the Revolution Settlement of 1689. Under
successive tacks the Town Council continued to intromit with
the teinds till the year 1836, but on account of the conditions
imposed by the tacks the city's funds could not gain, and they
were occasionally subjected to loss. On the debit side of the
account were the stipends of the two ministers, the expense
of keeping the Cathedral in repair and of furnishing com-
munion elements, and the tack duty to the Crown, while on
the credit side there could only be drawn from the heritors
a proportional part of the expense in procuring the tacks and
fulfilling the obligations contained in them. When there was
extra expenditure, such as an augmentation of stipend during
the currency of a tack, the Common Good had to make up
the deficiency.
^ G/asg. Rec. iii. p. 98. "^ lb. p. 290. ^Glasg. Chart, ii. p. 220-8.
28o GLASGOW MEMORIALS
In former times, when the Established Church was prac-
tically the church of the whole community, the Town Council
endeavoured to keep the supply of churches in pace with the
increasing population, and as each new church was planted they
undertook the responsibility of maintaining it and providing
for the stipend of its minister. It does not appear that any
new church was erected under legal obligation or otherwise
than by voluntary arrangement between the civic and ecclesi-
astical authorities ; but simultaneously with the erection of a
church, liability for future maintenance was imposed on the
community, either by resolution of the Town Council itself or by
decree of the Teind Court. The revenue from seat rents was
perhaps never equal to expenditure. After Blackfriars Church
was rebuilt and more money was needed, without any prospect
of obtaining a further contribution from the teinds, greater
activity prevailed in levying and collecting seat rents, but they
did not realise as much as was needed.
The last of the city churches was erected in 1820. They
number ten in all, including the Cathedral, the minister of
which has his stipend from the teinds. The stipends of the
other ministers, together with the expenditure on the upkeep
of nine churches and the Cathedral fittings, are charged against
the Common Good, into which fund the seat rents are paid.
Three years before the Disruption the income was within ;^69i
of the expenditure. In 1850 the deficiency had increased to
£i6'J2,i ^i^d each subsequent year has had its own shortcoming.
Displacement of population accounts to a large extent for this
discrepancy between revenue and expenditure. Rearrangement
of parishes, and other changes adapted to modern requirements,
have from time to time been proposed, and it is not improbable
that friendly negotiations may eventually result in an equitable
settlement satisfactory to all parties.
XIX.
EARLIEST MEETING-HOUSES OF GLASGOW
NONCONFORMISTS
TOLERATION of dissent, which was absolutely incon-
sistent with the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church,
did not for a long time commend itself to those who
administered ecclesiastical affairs in this country subsequent
to the Reformation. The Act of the Scottish Legislature
which sanctioned the new faith proscribed Popish observances,
and the General Assembly steadfastly aimed at a uniform
system of church government and worship. Following the
example set in England, where the King took the place of
the Pope as head of the Church in that country, and fortified
by their notions of Divine right, three generations of Stuart
Kings claimed supreme authority over the Scottish Church,
and, though these assumptions were often disputed, they
had the effect of preventing recognition by the State of
more than one class of Church at a time. Among the people
themselves, notwithstanding the oft-repeated bickerings between
Prelatists and Presbyterians, there was for the first hundred
years general acquiescence in the ecclesiastical position which-
ever party happened to be in the ascendant ; but an element
of discord' was introduced when, after the restoration of
monarchy, attempts were made to plant Episcopacy in Scotland
282 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
by compulsion. At this crisis nearly 300 ministers left their
benefices. In the present day the natural issue of disruption
is the organisation of a separate Church, but in the reign
of Charles II. there was no better outlet than resort to field
preachings or conventicles. The numerous repressive enact-
ments passed between 1661 and 1687, involving many of
the worthiest in the land in fines, imprisonments, torture
and death, were to a large extent directed against the holding
of conventicles either in town or country. Glasgow Magi-
strates, nominees of the Archbishops, could generally be
depended on to exert themselves in enforcing the penal
laws, but they had not always the sympathy or support
of the community. An incident which occurred towards
the close of that memorable year which witnessed the ravages
of the Highland Host illustrates the state of feeling which
then prevailed among the common people. On a Sunday
afternoon in October, 1678, Provost Bell had just left his
house in Bridgegate, on his way to the Church, when he
noticed a number of people going to a house in Saltmarket.
Concluding that a conventicle was about to be held, the
Provost " ordered one, Mr. John Lees, to take the officers
with him and seize the preacher (if he could) with some
of the most considerable of the hearers," but the attempt
to carry out these instructions was unsuccessful. In the
first room which was entered few men were found " but
great multitudes of women in and about the house." Access
could not be obtained to another room, where it was supposed
that the preacher and the more important persons were,
and after a " skuffle," Lees left to consult the magistrates
and obtain assistance. On reaching the street he was sur-
rounded by hundreds of women, who pelted him with stones,
disarmed him, broke his sword, threw him down, trode
NONCONFORMIST MEETING-HOUSES 283
on his body and nearly finished him before he was rescued.
Archbishop Burnet, who reported the assault, was " troubled
that such an attempt should have been made here, for it
doth but discover our nakedness " ; he considered it fortunate
that the women were victors, because if men had joined
in the fray matters would have been more serious ; and
he adds — " We are at their mercy every houre, and how
farre the noise and report of this may encourage other
disaffected persons I cannot tell." ^
The reign of Charles II. came to a close when strife between
the Covenanters and their persecutors was at its height.
A few months previous to that time the Magistrates of
Glasgow, acting on orders received from the Privy Council,
had issued a proclamation ordaining all " Nonconformist
preachers " and their families to leave the town.- James
VII. was a professed Romanist, openly avowing his wish
" that all the people of our dominions were members of
the Catholic Church " ; and, strange to say, it was mainly
on account of this circumstance that the Presbyterians obtained
liberty to conduct religious services in their own meeting-
houses. In this concession the primary object which the
King had in view was the extension of toleration to Roman
Catholics, but there was no chance of this being agreed to
unless his other subjects were similarly treated. The new
departure was announced in a series of proclamations, by
the first of which, dated 12th February, 1687, "moderate
Presbyterians," though forbidden to build meeting-houses
or to use out-houses or barns, were allowed to meet in
private houses for the purpose of hearing preachers who
had complied with certain requirements, which requirements
were dispensed with by a letter from the King, dated 31st
'^G/asg. Rec. iii. pp. 257-8. ^Ib. p. 350.
284 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
March. On 28th June further relaxations were intimated,
all " penal and sanguinary laws " made against any persons
for nonconformity or for exercising their respective religious
rites and ceremonies were suspended, and, while meetings
in fields were still strictly forbidden, permission was given
to "all our loving subjects to meet and serve God after
their own way and manner, be it in private houses, chapels,
or places purposely hired for that use," provided such meetings
should be openly held and nothing be preached or taught
to alienate the hearts of the people from the King or his
Government.^ Though it was well known that in thus
suspending the operation of existing laws, not by the authority
of Parliament but avowedly by his own " sovereign authority,
prerogative royal and absolute power," the King assumed
a right he did not possess, though it was likewise apparent
that the movement originated in a desire to benefit those
of the Roman Catholic persuasion, and though it was obviously
impolitic for people to acknowledge even by implication the
absolute power of a ruler who disliked their cause, yet
the great majority of Presbyterian ministers, worn out by
a long course of deprivation and persecution, gladly accepted
the indulgence and conformed to its conditions. " I know,"
says Wodrow, " of no Presbyterians who declined the benefit
of this liberty save Mr. Renwick and his followers."^ It is
not known whether any of those bold spirits who were pre-
pared to reject any terms short of unfettered freedom were
connected with Glasgow, but there were evidently many in the
city who cast in their lot with the Presbyterian majority. Two
meeting-houses were forthwith fitted up, and these continued
to be well patronised during the brief period that elapsed before
the reunion of all the Churches on a Presbyterian basis.
iWodrow's Church History, iv. pp. 417-27. ^ lb. p. 427.
NONCONFOKMIST MEETING-HOUSES 285
One of the meeting-houses was constructed out of two
barns which stood on the south side of Gallowgate, at the
head of two " daillis," or pieces of ground, which stretched
from that thoroughfare to Camlachie burn. On account
probably of the amount of rent they yielded, the pieces
of ground were known as " merk daillis," a name which
subsequently took the more euphonious form of Merkdailly.^
Of this place of worship James Wodrow, father of the Church
historian, was appointed minister. Born in 1637, and trained
in Glasgow for the Presbyterian ministry, the troubles which
lasted for 26 years had begun before James Wodrow finished
his preliminary studies. After obtaining his license in 1673,
he preached both in houses and fields, but on account of
the severities put in force after the Bothwell Bridge affair
of 1679, he was forced to leave Glasgow, and did not
return till the "indulgence" of 1687 removed any obstacle
in that direction. M'Ure, who lived through these times,
narrates that no sooner did the King grant the indulgence
" to all his Christian subjects indifferently to use the free
and undisturbed exercise of their own way of worship, but
the very far greater part of the inhabitants left the church
and flocked to the indulged ministers ; but the churches
being still in the possession of the established clergy, the
people of the Presbyterian way, by large and vast contributions,
built publick meeting-houses, vastly large, one betwixt the
Old Wynd and the New, and another great house without
the Gallowgate port, and had two ministers for preaching
there every Lord's-day." ^ It was in the latter place of
worship, which his son and biographer alludes to as " the
south meeting-house, called Merk-Daily Meeting-House,"
that James Wodrow was formally ordained on 21st August,
^As to this name see Regality Club, iv. pp. 100-3. ^ M'Ure, p. 60.
286 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
1688. The call had been subscribed by about 200 people,
designating themselves " ministers, elders, and other inhabi-
tants of the Presbyterian persuasion within the city of
Glasgow."^ At first the public authorities were not disposed
to recognise the meeting-houses as possessing full Church
privileges. An entry in the Council record dated 28th
September, 1687, narrates that the Town Council had learned
how "severall of the inhabitants marie and baptize their
children at the meeting-houses," whereupon they ordered
that all the inhabitants should " book " their marriages and
baptisms in the public and authentic register as formerly,
to avoid future inconvenience and loss in the event of extracts
from the public register being required.^ This looks as
if marriages and baptisms in the meeting-houses were regarded
as valid, but that registration had hitherto been only available
when these ceremonies took place in the parish church.
In consequence of the troubles in Ireland in the beginning
of 1689, many Presbyterians sought refuge in Glasgow, and
the meeting-houses got overcrowded. On 14th May a
Parliamentary Committee had under consideration a supplication
by the " people of Glasgow of the Presbyterian persuasione,"
showing that some poor people had lately come from Ireland
to Glasgow in such numbers that the meeting-houses were
not able to contain them, and seeing that the churches of
Glasgow " have these many moneths bypast been emptie,
without any preaching," it was asked that the inhabitants should
be allowed to use them. In compliance with this request
the meeting-house preachers were permitted to occupy the
Inner High and Tron Churches. ^ It may have been about
this time that James Wodrow was promoted to the Outer
^ Life of James Wodroiv (1828), pp. 80-5.
'^ Glasg. Rec. iii. pp. 404-5. ^^pp^. to M'Ure, p. 318.
NONCONFORMIST MEETING-HOUSES 287
High Church, of which he was minister till 1692, when he
was appointed to the Professorship of Divinity in the Univer-
sity. All Presbyterian ministers were restored to their churches
in April, 1690, and shortly after that the Merkdailly meeting-
house was abandoned. From about this time the Town
Council had charge of the meeting-houses, and, being of
opinion that there was " no necessitie for keeping up the
South meeting-house for preaching," they on 29th September
resolved to take it down and sell the timber, stone pillars,
and other material for behoof of the poor, who were to
get the proceeds " after the two barnes of which the said
meeting-house was composed and made up are put in the
samen condition they were in before they were turned in
the said meeting-house," ^ Subsequently there was a proposal
to use part of the material for building an aisle to the Tron
Church, subject to the approval of those who had contributed
to the building fund.^
The other meeting-house had a longer career, and its name
is still retained by one of the three existing churches which
originated on its site. From 1690 onwards the building
was kept in repair by the Town Council, who supplied glass
windows that year, and seat rents were regularly collected.
Previous to 1709 the meeting-house was held in lease, but
it was then purchased by the Town Council on behalf of
the community. Writing in 1736, M'Ure — who, in the
passage already quoted, places the meeting-house between
the Old and New Wynds, while (as elsewhere noted by
him) its actual position was between Maynes or Back Wynd
and New Wynd — states that the building, which was " rather
convenient than magnificent," was still kept up, and that
it then served one of the parishes of the city for a church.^
^ Glasg. Rec. Hi. p. 462. ^ lb. iv. pp. 14, 15. ^ ]\/[<Ure, pp. 61, 132, 202.
288 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
About the year 1756, when the Wynd Church was condemned
as insufficient, and St. Andrew's Church, which had for
some time been in course of construction, was ready for
occupation, the Wynd congregation migrated thither. By
this time at least two seceding congregations had obtained
a footing in Glasgow, the Burghers at Craignaught and the
Antiburghers at Havanna, but still the supply was not keeping
pace with the population, and the Town Council resolved
to have another church and minister. The Wynd Church
was accordingly rebuilt, a piece of ground on the north
being added to the original site, and the new building was
opened in 1763. In 1807 St. George's Church was erected
for the congregation, as the accommodation in the Wynd
was found to be insufficient, and the Wynd site was trans-
formed into a " Greenmarket " for the sale of herbs and
vegetables. In 1853 the market for these commodities was
transferred to the bazaar in Candleriggs, and the ground
between the wynds was purchased by the Free Church trustees,
who there built a church which was occupied as such till
the year 1878, when the congregation removed to their new
building, the " Wynd Free Church," at the corner of Crown
Street and Cathcart Road. The old building was thereafter
occupied as a leather factory, which the Corporation of Glasgow
purchased and removed under the authority of their Improve-
ments Act of 1897. Maynes Wynd has since been closed,
and a range of warehouses, situated immediately to the north
of Osborne Street, now covers the site of the meeting-house
erected by Glasgow Nonconformists at a time when the
prolonged attempt to enforce the universal acceptance of
Episcopacy had ended in acknowledged failure.
^
5:
O
XX.
EARLY KIRK-SESSIONS OF GLASGOW
IN his History of the Reformation Knox alludes to the
origin of those gatherings from which kirk-sessions were
evolved, telling how Christian brethren in the respective towns
would assemble at stated periods for prayers and reading the
Scriptures, and how for the maintenance of decorum elders,
to whom the others promised obedience, were appointed by
common election. Within a few months after August, 1560,
when the reformed doctrines were formally adopted by the
Scottish Legislature, the First Book of Discipline was drawn
up, and though not sanctioned by Parliament its provisions
ruled Church procedure. Under this code elders and deacons
were to be annually chosen, the former to assist the minister
in all public affairs and the latter to distribute the rents
and alms. After twenty years' experience in congregational
organisation, and a prolonged contest between Prelacy and
Presbytery, in which the latter was for a time predominant,
the Second Book of Discipline, compiled by Andrew Melville
and his coadjutors, became the law of the Church. The
General Assembly which sanctioned the new code, and likewise
grouped the various parishes into Presbyteries, held its
meeting at Glasgow in April, 1581.
290 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
Neither the precise date nor other particulars regarding
the formation of Glasgow Kirk Session are known, on
account of the want of contemporary records. John
Willock was appointed superintendent of the western
district in 1560, and in the following year " Maister
James Hammiltoun, redar in the Kirk of Glasgow," was
allowed for his services ;^40 yearly from the revenues of
St. Mary's Kirk in Trongate. This reader, under Willock's
supervision, appears to have had charge of the Glasgow
congregation prior to the arrival of David Wemes, the
first minister of the city. In a supplication presented to
kirk commissioners in January, 157 1-2, Wemes stated that
he had served in the office of ministry in Glasgow for
the past ten years ; but as his name occurs as minister of
Ratho in June, 1562, his period of service must in 157 1-2
have been a few months short of a decade. It may,
however, be safe to assume that the kirk session of
Glasgow was formed in 1561 or 1562, if not earlier. In
St. Andrews, as appears from the two volumes of records
edited by Dr. Hay Fleming for the Scottish History Society,
the minister and elders acted as members of session as early
as 1559. In 1 56 1 the elders and deacons of the ensuing
year were chosen by the Town Council, burgesses, and
members of the College. In Peebles, which, like Glasgow,
was under Willock's supervision, elders and deacons were
chosen by the Town Council and community in 156 1-2.
But though Glasgow session probably existed from about
the time indicated, no record of its proceedings is extant
of an earlier date than 1583. As the result of a search
made in 1792 various volumes of presbytery records were
found in private repositories, and among them a volume of
kirk session records, beginning at the date just mentioned
EARLY KIRK-SESSIONS OF GLASGOW 291
and ending in 1592.^ In view of the success which attended
this inquiry, it is to be regretted that similar zeal was not
at the same time manifested with regard to the municipal
records, as some of the volumes now missing may then
have been within reach. John Gibson, whose history of
Glasgow was published in 1777, quotes ordinances passed
by the Magistrates and Council in 1556, 1559-60, and 1563,
an eventful period in local history which is much obscured
by want of contemporary records.
^ The information for this chapter has been mainly procured from the
recovered volume of session records mentioned in the text. It begins on
28th November, 1583, and ends in October, 1592, but there are no minutes
between i8th July, 1584, and 31st March, 1585, and leaves are wanting
between (l) 2nd June, 1586, and 15th February, 1587-8, and (2) 6th and
13th November, 1589. The book consists of 154 leaves, the size slightly
varying in the separate sections, but all measuring about 11 or ii|^ by 7|
inches. The average leaf contains about 1000 words, and the writing,
though small, is well preserved and only an occasional word is illegible.
It may here be noted that Dr. William H. Hill possesses a volume of
Kirk Session records which covers some months more than the period
embraced in the volume just described. In precise figures Dr. Hill's volume,
beginning with the election of 35 elders and 25 deacons on 3rd and 7th
November, 1583, contains a record of the kirk session's proceedings down
to 30th March, 1593, and there are a few notes subsequent to that date.
On a cursory comparison of the two volumes, it was found that though
they are substantially identical, Dr. Hill's is the more carefully written,
gives effect to clerical corrections, and while some entries are omitted,
others are amplified, all pointing to the conclusion that this is the official
or principal record, and that the other is a scroll or first copy. From
internal evidence, it appears that Wodrow's extracts, so far as relating to
the period 1583-92, printed by the Maitland Club in 1848, were taken
from Dr. Hill's volume. Referring to the hiatus of 1584-5, which occurs
in both volumes, Wodrow remarks that " probably that was a time of con-
fusion under Bishop Adamson and Arran's government, and that there were
few or no sessions held. During the year 1585," he adds, "there is much
indistinction and confusion, and no wonder, since it was a troublous time."
292 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
For some years before the time when the session records
commence, Glasgow had its full share of ecclesiastical troubles.
Andrew Hay, who succeeded Willock as superintendent of
the western district, had long been Rector of the University.
It was mainly through his instrumentality that Andrew
Melville was appointed Principal of the College in 1574,
and the two had always been prominent members of the
Presbyterian party. Thomas Smetoun, Principal of the
College in 1580-3, and David Wemes, the parish minister,
showed similar tendencies, and the students, with a majority
of the town's people, were on their side. Latterly the
Prelatists were led by Archbishop Montgomery (whose
settlement in Glasgow was the cause of much disturbance)
and his nominees, the Magistrates of the city, and they
had the support of the King and the Earl of Lennox, who
was Provost of Glasgow in 15 80-1. On several occasions
the opposing factions had come into personal collision, but
the more serious of these conflicts were over before November,
1583, and the opening entries of the session record are mainly
of a routine character. Meetings of session were held on
the Thursdays weekly, the opening hour being usually nine
in the forenoon. The place of meeting is not stated in the
minutes, but Wodrow mentions that in 1586 the session
met in Blackfriars Kirk, and that afterwards only public and
more solemn meetings for changing the session, fasts, etc.,
were held in the chapter-house of the Cathedral. The names
of absent members, but not the names of those present,
are given in the minutes. On 28th November, 1583, the
first recorded meeting of session, nine elders and ten deacons
were absent, and this may be taken as a fair average of
non-attendance throughout the period embraced in the book.
In 1585 a previous Act providing for the exaction of penalties
EARLY KIRK-SESSIONS OF GLASGOW 293
from absent members was ratified, but particulars are not
given, and the ratified Act is not now extant. To mitigate
the inconvenience of irregular attendance, and " the oursycht
of haynous and wechtie crymes," it was, on 4th June,
1584, resolved that thirteen members should be sufficient for
transacting business, and the minister was asked to enjoin
the elders and deacons to assemble at the hour of meeting
and to proclaim defaulters openly in the pulpit. In 1592
there were 37 elders and 25 deacons, but the numbers
probably varied from year to year. The elections usually
took place in October or November yearly. Nominated by
the session of the closing year, the new members were
admitted in presence of the congregation, after an opportunity
had been afforded for the statement of objections by any
person interested. Thus on 3rd October, 1588, all the
elders and deacons were warned to appear on the following
Thursday " for the electioun of new elderis and dekinis,"
and on 17th October, in consequence of " na impediment"
being made, the " beddell " was instructed to warn those
who had been chosen to attend in the High Kirk on Sunday
to " reesave thair offices." Another election is referred to
on 19th October, 1592, when the minister read from the
pulpit the names of those who had been selected for elders
and deacons, and intimated that any objection to their
admission required to be given in to the session on the
following Thursday. A clerk and a treasurer were periodically
appointed by the session. At a meeting on 24th October, 1588,
"Mr. John Allansoun" was re-elected "scribe to the sessioun"
for the ensuing year. Allansoun was a notary, and he was
also at one time employed as a reader or exhorter. In
February, 1588-9, complaint was made of his having left
his office as reader without cause, and of having spoken
294 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
rashly in attributing covetousness to one of the ministers.
An election of a treasurer — an official who was usually
chosen half-yearly — is noticed on 5th February, 1589-90,
when from a leet of four James Braidwode was chosen by
twelve votes, there being only other two votes given for
another name on the leet. At one of the meetings the
members were sworn not to reveal the session proceedings,
but this was perhaps merely the re-enactment of an existing
law.
Under the Book of Discipline adopted in 1581, magistrates
were enjoined to assist and maintain the discipline of the
Kirk and punish civilly those who would not obey their
censure, and it is observable that the Glasgow session obtained
the ready co-operation of the burgh magistrates in the
enforcement of decrees. In 1584 the magistrates were
requested to apprehend certain persons " proceidit against
in the pulpet " and such of the officers as showed diligence
in executing the *' decreets " of the Kirk were to receive
20s. each. Instructions were likewise given that the
*' guidman of the hous " should be summoned along with
offenders dwelling with him. In 1585 the session required
that one of the bailies should be present at every session
meeting, and the magistrates were desired to instruct their
officers to apprehend all who were contumacious. When
imprisonment was resorted to, the delinquent had to pay
to the officer 4od. and to the jailor i8d. In view of the
approaching municipal elections in 1588, the two ministers
and three others were instructed to desire that men of
upright life should be chosen bailies. At that time the
bailies were chosen by Walter Stewart, commendator of
Blantyre, out of leets presented by members of the Town
Council, In 1589-90, about which time members were
EARLY KIRK-SESSIONS OF GLASGOW 295
enjoined to give better attendance, it was desired that the
elders should " keip the sessioun, and specialie the bailies."
At each session meeting a collector of poor's money was
appointed for the ensuing week, and the past collector
reported how much had been " gadderit to the puir." The
two earliest reported collections in 1583 amounted to 27s. yd.
and Iji 6s. id, respectively, and the last in 1592 to 1,1 7s. yd.
The average collection for 1583-92 was about ^i weekly.
Periodical distribution of the money among poor persons is
noted, as on 26th December, 1583, when five men, one woman,
and a " wyf and bairns " got ;^3 among them. In February
and March, 1583-4 references are made to " tikattis of the
distributioun of the puir silver." In June, 1584, Hew
Thomson, " quha had his leg brokin," got 8s. 2d., and
licence was given, with consent of the bailies, " to seik
support be twa honest men, on Mononday." On 2nd
July it was arranged that the deacons should distribute the
'* puir silveir " on the following Saturday " efter the prayeris."
When the box was opened it was found to contain ^1%.
At a distribution in May, 1585, the amount in the box was
;^i6 9s. 8d. In March, 1586, reference is made to the
dearth and great number of poor in the town, and certain
members were appointed to confer with the bailies and council
for their relief. On 21st April the session directed that
intimation should be made by tuck of drum admonishing
all the " puir beggaris " to assemble next day in the
Blackfriar Kirk, when " markis " or badges were to be
given to the town's poor, and strangers were to be expelled.
On 2nd June the poor who had received their badges were
appointed to appear in the " Laigh Kirk " (Blackfriars), the
following Sunday to hear the prayers, and those who absented
themselves were to " get na meit in the toun." At same
296 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
time the session and magistrates gave orders that no one
was to collect " with the dische " either within or without
the town except by special authority of the session. In
March, 1588, the sum of £4. was to be given to " ane
young man of quhom the brithrine of the sessioune hes
knawin ane gud report and quha hes losit his gudis and
geir throucht na negligence." In August of the same
year the provost was desired to be present at a meeting for
dealing with the great number of poor in the town, and
in the following month the magistrates and council were
to be approached " anent the puir sittand in the hiegate."
"Ane puir Spanyarde " who, on 25th June, 1589, got a
donation of 6s. 8d., was probably one of the wrecked mariners
who had come with the " Invincible Armada " in the previous
year. A priest in reduced circumstances is apparently referred
to on 24th July, 1589, when the treasurer was instructed
to purchase cloth for '* brekis to Sir Archibald Dik," and to
have them made and paid for. Among other payments in
September, 1589, are 3s. "to by ane serk to ane puir man,"
and 6s. 8d. to " the blind woman in Drygate callit Margrat
Lop," In the following December material was to be
purchased to " cloithe James Kilpatrik in cote, brekis, serk,
schort hois, and schoon," and at the same time the session
allowed money to be gathered in aid of " Blantyre folkis
quha had thair corne destroyit be halestones." On loth
June, 1 59 1, the ministers were directed to advise with the
Town Council for taking measures to prevent the great
confluence of landward beggars, and the " belman for the
deid " was instructed to banish all such from the town.
In July the attention of the session was directed to the
inmates of St. Nicholas Hospital, and the "almoushous
men " were enjoined to attend the kirk both forenoon and
THK DRVGATK, WITH CATHEDRAI,.
From Oil Painting by Horatio M'Ciiliocii, K.S.A., 1S32.
EARLY KIRK-SESSIONS OF GLASGOW 297
afternoon. Those absent without reasonable cause were
to forfeit a week's allowance, and the like result was to
follow absence from prayers. Sir Bartholomew Simpson,
master of the hospital, was to say prayers morning and
evening.
At the first recorded meeting of session five persons were
charged with being " absent fra the kirk on Sonday last
wes." One of them promised " obediance " in future, and
Margaret Hamilton, a seller of salt, was " commandit to
keip guid ordour in tymes to cum, and to rule hir toung
fra flyting and scaling." At next meeting three absentees
were fined 20s. each, while Janet Gibsoun, " ane blasphemer
and absent, was decernit to be viij dayis in the stokis, and
thairefter to cum to the pillar." In June, 1584, one of
the bailies was requested to inspect the town on Sunday
and ascertain " quha bydis fra the kirk." Absentees had
been summoned, but they failed to appear, and the magistrates
were asked to place them in custody till they found sureties
for their future obedience. In June, 1589, Alison Watson
confessed that she was " absent fra the kirk at all tymes
almaist bot at the communioun," and that she was ignorant
of " the Lords prayer, beleiff, and commandementis." On
loth July, Alison, who is described as "ane woman verie
evill gevin to hir nychtbouris in flytting, backbyting, and
scalling," was admonished to attend the church regularly in
future, to acquire knowledge, and to live peaceably with
her neighbours, under threat of bread and water fare, followed
by the joggs and branks. In January, 159 1-2, one John
Tempill, in Nether Possil, was accused of saying that he
*' prayit as weill on the colhill as any did in the kirk";
but he denied the charge, and consideration of the case was
adjourned. On 5th October, 1592, an erring daughter of
298 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
Eve was called to account for being " in ane apil tree " on
the previous Sunday in time of preaching.
The minister of Cumbuslang (i 580-161 8) seems to be
the "Mr. John Howesone " who, on 9th September, 1591,
was accused for being absent from the weekly exercise on
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, he being an indweller of
Glasgow. In excuse, Howesone pleaded his frequent absences
on the affairs of the kirk " or ellis wearie or sick, or providing
of preachings for his flok." Venturing on more dangerous
ground he likewise averred that when occupied in his study
at home " he thocht he profited mair thair in ane hour
than he culd haif done in ane uther hour at the kirk."
Farther, as he was " ane pastour of ane uther flock," and
also an elder and worthy of double honour, he considered
he was straitly handled in being cited as " ane sclanderous
persone." The session, in an elaborate answer, contested
the relevancy of the defence, alleged that Howesone had
sometimes been " ganging upoun the calsie in tyme of
preiching," that he was a player at '* carttis and dyce,"
and that in heat of play he had occasionally broken into
'* banning and sueiring." The questions at issue were referred
to the synodal or general assembly.
There seems to have been a prevailing laxity with regard
to Sunday labour, though the session put forth strenuous
efforts for strict observance of the day. In November, 1583,
the " maltmen, millers, and baxters, workers on the Sabothe
day," were to be summoned before the session. It was at same
time ordained that merchants should shut their booth doors on
Wednesday and Friday, weekly, in the hour of preaching, and
on these days the masters of the craftsmen were enjoined
to attend the kirk. In December the deacons were directed
to " see that thair craftis keip the Sabothe day." In May,
EARLY KIRK-SESSIONS OF GLASGOW 299
1585, an admonition was given "concerning fischeares,
drawaris on the Sabothe days on the watter of Clyde." In
May, 1589, it was ordered that " na playing be on the nixt
twa Sondayes be ressoun of the fast " ; the maltmen beyond
Drygate burn were to " mak na fyir on the Sabothe daye " ;
inbringers of coal and peats were to be punished, the coals
given to the hospital and the peats to the almshouse. On
5th June William Wedrope confessed that " his pleuche wes
yokit efter the sune going doun upoun Sondaye," and he was
sentenced to acknowledge his fault in kirk on Sunday and
pay 20s. for violating the Sabbath. Others were charged with
a like offence and ordered to make repentance. Increased
watchfulness was manifested about this time against these and
other Sabbath-breakers, among whom were enumerated salmon
fishers, inbringers of elding (fuel), peats and heather, millers
and baxters, and watchmen were appointed to detect those
who brought in coals at the ports. On ist October, 1590,
Gilbert Scott in Easter Craigs confessed he had " led in cornes
on the Sondaye," and for this harvest work he was fined 20s.
As the result of a raid against the fleshers in December of that
year, one confessed that after the preaching he " slew kye on
the Sondaye " ; another said his servants without his know-
ledge " slew " in the afternoon, a third confessed to his
servants killing sheep in the afternoon, and another of the
accused denied killing in the forenoon, but confessed that this
occurred in the afternoon. Fines of 20s. each for " wirking
on the Sabothe day" were imposed.
The observance of any other day than Sunday as holy was
regarded as savouring of superstition and sinful, but much
difficulty was encountered in suppressing the accustomed cele-
brations. On 26th December, 1583, the session ordained all the
deacons and some of the " honestest men " of every craft, to be
300 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
summoned "for the vane observatioun of the superstitious
dayes callit Yule " ; and some merchants were likewise
summoned for closing their booths on that day. At the time
appointed more than a score of persons answered to the
charge of keeping Yule day, and others who had been cited
did not appear. Some were absolved, others convicted, and
the majority were " purged " — a phrase which seems to indicate
acquittal by oath. One stickler for continuity had three
adherents when he pled that " because his forbearis keipit
Yule day he himself keepit the same." One put forward the
more substantial excuse that " gif he had gottin work on Yule
day he wald haif wrocht." Two persons denied the charge,
one alleging that he was working and the other that his booth
was open. John Lufe " grantit that his barnes wrocht nocht
the said day." On 8th January the session ordained that all
within the burgh who " keepit superstitiouslie Yule dayis,
contrar Godis law, the ordinance of the toun and the Kirk,"
should, on conviction, either confess their fault and ignorance,
or pass to the " pillar " on Sunday and make repentance. It
is noted that the laird of Minto (presumably as bailie of the
regality) had caused proclamation to be made at the Cross
" afoir Yuile that na trublance suld be maid within xx dayis."
This was probably a yearly custom. One of the three head
courts of the burgh was held after Yule, generally in the third
week of January. A curious incident is referred to in 1586,
when some persons were punished for having on 20th Decem-
ber, called St. Thomas's even, went through the town with
pipers, and laid a dead horse at the minister's gate. Superstition
in another form than that of Yule observance is referred to on
30th January, 1588-9, when the session instructed Sir Bartilmo
Simsoun to " burn all the brodes and pictures thereon as
monuments of idolatrie." Sir Bartilmo was master of St.
IJRANKS.
STOCKS.
EARLY KIRK-SESSIONS OF GLASGOW 301
Nicholas Hospital, and therefore it is probable that the
offending pictures belonged either to that hospital or its
adjoining chapel.
David Wemes, the first Protestant minister of Glasgow,
had no colleague till February, 1587-8, when he was joined
by John Couper, who came from Edinburgh. An entry in
the kirk session record dated 28th February of that year
bears that *' Mr. Johne Couper, be the avise of the sessioun
of Glasgw, is gladlie and willinglie acceptit and admittit as
minister secund in Glasgw," and the concurrence of the
Presbytery was to be sought. At next meeting of session
arrangements were made for apportionment of work between
the two ministers. On Sunday services were to be conducted
in the " Hie Kirk," and on Wednesdays and Fridays the
" College Kirk " was to be used until certain repairs, to be
afterwards referred to, were carried out on the High Kirk.
On Sundays the ministers were to teach forenoon and after-
noon alternately, the one who taught in the forenoon one
week to officiate in the afternoon of the following week ; and
it was likewise arranged that " the first pastour sail exercise
upon Weddinsdaye and the second on the Fridaye." In case
of the absence or illness of one pastor the other was to take his
place. On account of Friday being the " day of exercise to
the presbytery," a deputation was on 23rd May appointed
to confer with that body for fixing another day for the town's
preaching, but at next meeting it was reported that the existing
arrangement was to be continued. Regulations for adminis-
tration of baptism were passed in April and May, 1588.
On Wednesdays and Sundays the bell was to be rung thrice,
and parents having children to be baptized were to present
them after the second ringing. Intimation was also to be
made from the pulpit " that all and sundrye fatheris quha ar
302 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
to half barnis baptisit haif the commandementis of the Eternal
God, the articles of fayth and Lordis prayer." Should the
fathers prove deficient in knowledge on these subjects a
substitute coming under the qualification of an " honest godlie
man " was to " ressave the barne of the ignorantis to be
baptiseit."
Between 1583 and 1592 Communion services were held
yearly, and in some years there were two observances with
a week's interval between them. On 19th December, 1583,
the session desired the Presbytery to provide assistance to
the minister " in tyme of the ministratioun of the Supper of
the Lord thir Sondayes nixt fallowing." It was arranged
that next day (Friday) the " exercise " should be in the High
Kirk. Seven persons, presumably elders or deacons, were
nominated " for the morning service " on Sunday, three of
them " to ressave the tikattis," two " to serve with the
breid," and two " to serve with the cowpe." Two of the
seven were " to be present at four houris in the morning."
Thomas Huchesoun was " to provyd the breid and wyne,"
three persons were to " taist the wyne and to wait thairupoun,"
the burgh officers were " to provyde for napeir and cowpis
and basynis to serve the tables," and a wright was to be
employed for "setting the burdis." On 27th April, 1587,
the session directed three persons, including the minister and
a bailie, to pass through the town and warn all those suspected
of " papistry and uncharity " to come to the Communion on
the following Sunday. Further, " all and sundry " were
directed to communicate either on that Sunday or the next,
and those who did not comply were to be " excommunicat
as papists and makers of defections from the word of God
and his godly institutions." Shortly after the appointment
of the second minister, he and others were asked to confer
EARLY KIRK-SESSIONS OF GLASGOW ^03
with the bailies for the " making of ane new stampe and the
carttis (cards) for the tikettis." At next meeting it was ordered
that those persons who failed to attend the examinations were
not to receive tickets or be allowed " to present thameselfis
to the table of the Lord." The expense of the tickets was
borne out of the " penitentis silver," and they were " merkit
with the figure 1588." Among the arrangements made on
2nd May, 1588, preparatory to the Communion, Wednesday
was set aside for '' ane conventioun for reconcilatioun of
enemities standing in this toun," the people on the west
side of the town were to communicate on one Sunday and
the others on the following Sunday, request was made to " the
College to use the exercise in prayeris and preiching the twa
Sundayes nixtttoum," collections for the poor were to be made
both at the "Hie Kirk" and the "lache kirk callit the
Blakfreir Kirk," and persons were appointed to receive the
tickets, to keep the doors, and " to serve at the tabillis.''
Among other arrangements for communion services in May,
1590, endeavours were to be made for " reconciliationis with
these quha standis at enemite." The obligation which rested
on the parson of Glasgow to furnish communion elements
had been confirmed by a decision of the Privy Council in 1566,
but some difficulty was raised by the Commendator of Blantyre,
who was tacksman of the parsonage, and in 1589 proceedings
were threatened against him unless he supplied such " breade
and wyne " as were necessary. The Commendator was also
at this time liable for the ministers' stipends, amounting to
500 and 300 merks respectively, payable out of the teinds.
The " examinations " conducted by the ministers were not
always endured with patience. On 9th May, 1588, during
preparations for the Communion, one Margaret Ferguson
exclaimed — " And (though) William Nichole and Mr. Johne
304 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
Couper war hangit, scho wald nocht heir the commande-
mentis this nicht." On 23rd May the session ordered
Margaret to be put in the steeple till Monday, when she
was to be placed on the " cokstullis " for two hours, surety
was to be found for her future good behaviour with her
husband, family, and neighbours, and on Sunday she was to
enter the pillar of repentance and ask forgiveness of God,
her husband, and the whole congregation. Such was the
sentence, but at the desire of her husband its execution was
delayed on the warning that if again convicted of a similar
offence she should be " put on the cokstullis, with the brankis
in her mouth, and thaireftir to be doukit," or have the
alternative of paying ;^io. Another objector to the examin-
ations, who had spoken " filthie wordis in presens of the
minister," was ordered to make her repentance on Sunday
in the pillar, and if she offended again was to be *' brankit,
doukit, and cairttit." In 1592 one James Nilsoun was
accused of using contemptuous expressions towards the mini-
ster, who had refused to give him a ticket for the Communion,
but having appeared at a subsequent meeting he was supplied
with a ticket, after an admonition to behave himself in future
honestly and quietly towards the pastor and all others.
In December and January, 1589-90, the Town Council
were desirous of having " twa preichingis " on Sunday, one in
the forenoon, and another in the afternoon, and the subject
was to be discussed by the ministers, the principal of the
College, and others. Another reference to pulpit discourses
occurs on i6th December, 1591, when the session *' thinkis
gud that Mr. David Wemes teiche the Evangell according
to St. John." Within three years after this time St. Mary's
Kirk in Trongate was repaired and opened as a Protestant
place of worship and it was perhaps in connection with that
E^
O
o
o
:S
EARLY KIRK-SESSIONS OF GLASGOW 305
movement that the session on 23rd December, 1591, arranged
'*to convene the morn, at twa houris after noon, in the Blak-
freir Kirk for provision of Mr. John Bell in the College."
Bell, who was a regent or professor in the College, was
admitted minister of the Tron or St. Mary's Kirk in 1594.
At the time of the Reformation it may be assumed that
the Cathedral was in a fair state of repair, but after its partial
desertion some neglected parts began to show signs of
decay. So far as can be ascertained from existing records the
Town Council and community as well as the ecclestiastical
authorities always manifested a laudable desire to preserve the
building. Thus in 1574 the Town Council, " for the zele
thai beir to the kirk," voluntarily imposed a tax of ;^200 for
repairing " the greit dekaye and ruyne that the hie kirk of
Glasgow is cum to, throuch taking awaye of the leid, sclait,
and uther graith thairof, in this trublus tyme bygane." In
the end of the year 1586 the Kirk Session were in communi-
cation with the Town Council regarding repairs on the High
Kirk, and on the occasion of John Couper being admitted
second minister, several influential persons were appointed
to estimate the amount of money required to " repair the
windowes in the Hie Kirk sclait and timmer." Some alter-
ations on the choir were at this time contemplated, and on
7th March, 1587-8, parts of the services were appointed to
be conducted in the College Kirk, " unto the tyme the Hie
Kirk or at leist the queir thairof, be sufficientlie repairit for
the commodious teiching and heiring of the word." At the
same time " the commissioneris and haill brethreine of the
kirk and sessioune " resolved that the " lache stepill " should
" be tane doun to repair the masoun work of the kirk, and
the bell and knok be sett on the hiche stepill with that conditioun
that the kirk haif ane cuinzeie for the releiff thairof." The
u
3o6 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
'Mache stepill " was the north-west tower which, through a
change of plan, was saved at the time, and reserved for
demolition by the renovators of the nineteenth century.
The " cuinzeie " or quoinie stipulated for was apparently
meant to be a substituted support for that part of the main
building which would be left exposed after removal of the
tower. Particulars regarding the abandonment of the scheme
have not been recorded, but there are indications that the
retention of the tower had been resolved upon by i6th May,
on which date 2s. were given "for the mending of the lache
stepill locke." On 20th March, 1588-9, the treasurer
was instructed to " big the window underneth the lache
stepill," and on 17th July, 1589, some money was expended
in repairing "the knok in the laiche stepill."
This fruitless scheme for removal of the north-west tower
is worthy of special consideration on account of the probability,
as long ago suggested by Dr. M'Crie in his Life of Andrew
Melville, that it supplies the germ of the story told by Arch-
bishop Spottiswood, but vouched by no contemporary authority,
regarding the threatened destruction of Glasgow Cathedral.
It will be recollected that the main features of the narrative
are the resolution by the magistrates and ministers to demolish
the building, the vastness of which drowned the preacher's
voice, and with the materials to build some "little churches";
that quarriers, masons, and others were employed to do the
work, which was not commenced on account of popular
disapproval ; and that an application was made to the King
and his council on the subject. Spottiswood's erroneous state-
ments have often been exposed, but no one supposes that the
story was a pure invention ; and after giving due allowance
for the exaggerative power of traditionary gossip, the
proceedings which took place in 1588 seem to afford the
EARLY KIRK-SESSIONS OF GLASGOW 307
requisite foundation. Here an extensive structural demolition
was contemplated, requiring the employment of quarriers and
masons. The old materials were to be applied towards altera-
tions, which may well have included the erection of a wall
and the transformation of choir and nave into two " little
churches," as was actually accomplished about sixty years later.
Then there was the abandonment of the scheme from whatever
cause, followed by the King's letters requiring that the necessary
alterations should be executed in another form. In short,
no other group of known facts harmonises so well with the
picturesque account of the doomed Cathedral saved by the
patriotic crafts, and if the solution is not found here, it is
likely that the story will continue to be one of the puzzles
of local history.
In June, 1588, "Mr. Andrew Hay, parson of Renfrew
and commissioner within the bounds of Clydesdale, Lennox,
and Renfrew," produced the King's letters charging him as
commissioner to " use stenting and taxing " for repair of
kirks within his bounds, and he called on the parishioners
of Glasgow to take the necessary steps within their district.
The session, considering that " thai ar bot ane few nomber
convenit for handling of materis belanging to the discipline
of the kirk," and were not in a position to choose stentmasters
for imposing taxation, thought it better that the most discreet
part of the parishioners should take the matter on hand, seeing
it is of " greit wecht and importance." Negotiations seem to
have proceeded slowly, and the winter came and passed before
anything substantial was done. The building must have
become considerably dilapidated, as the congregation were
exposed to the inclemency of the weather. On 7th October
the session, " in respect of the winter season and the incon-
veniences of the Hie Kirk at this present," resolved that till
3o8 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
it should be made commodious for the pastor and people,
the sermons should in future be delivered in the " lache kirk,
and that enduring this winter seasoun and stormeness of
wedder." At same time two bailies along with other persons
were asked to inspect the " ruinous places " and report their
opinion to next meeting. At this time a share of responsibility
for upkeep of the church rested on the prior or commendator
of Blantyre, Walter Stewart, who had obtained from the King
a grant of the lordship of Glasgow, and had also acquired
from Archibald Douglas, the titular parson, a tack of the
teinds. As lord of Glasgow, Stewart chose the magistrates,
and he had bestowed the provostship on his elder brother.
Sir Mathew Stewart. When arranging for the inspection
just referred to the session desired the provost, prior, and
bailies, with certain of their own members, to meet and
determine what was to be done. The Duke of Lennox,
in respect of his territorial interest in the parish, was to be
asked for a ratable share of the expense, or, as it is expressed,
" fyve merkis of the fewe of everie merkland for to repair
the queir." The change to the " lache kirk " (supposed to
indicate the College or Blackfriars Kirk) did not work well,
as the place was too small and the people were taking the
opportunity of " absenting themselfis fra the heiring of the
Word of God." On 5th December, accordingly, instructions
were given that even during winter time, if the weather was
suitable, the sermons should be delivered in the High Kirk.
To bring the prolonged financial negotiations to a close, the
magistrates and council, on 29th May, 1589, offered not
only to contribute their share of the expense, amounting to
600 marks, but also to carry out the work on being guaranteed
repayment by the " parson " and parishioners of the remaining
900 marks. For his part the commendator of Blantyre, as
EARLY KIRK-SESSIONS OF GLASGOW 309
tacksman of the parsonage, offered 400 marks, and on loth
July, " stenters " for the landward part of the parish imposed
a tax of 24s. on every mark land '* for reparatioun of the
queir of Glasgow," it being stated that the tax was to be
imposed " as it wes wont to be of auld to the kingis weiris "
(wars). Sir Mathew Stewart, in his capacity of bailie of the
barony, undertook responsibility for collecting the tax, and
the work was forthwith set in motion. On 31st July " kirk-
maisteris for bargain making in bying of tymmir, stanes,
lyme, sande, and uther necessaries for the repairing of the
queir " were appointed, and the bailies were desired to warn
the workmen of the town to be at the kirk on the following
Tuesday. On 27th November an order was given for as
much " knapill " {i.e. oak staves) as should serve for con-
structing the pulpit. Little more appears in the record
regarding the actual carrying out of the work. Considerable
difficulty was experienced in collecting the tax or stent. Lord
Provand had raised some objection, and the ministers and
others were authorised to ascertain what he would contribute
" as ane of the chaptour." The Bishop of Argyle had pro-
mised 100 marks, and there are frequent applications to him
for the money. Part of the expense was apportioned on
the respective crafts, the share payable by the bonnetmakers
being 16 marks, but the amount payable by the other in-
corporations is not stated. In June, 1591, when money for
repairs was required, each burgess was directed to bring I2d.
when summoned by sound of drum.
In the south-west tower of the Cathedral accommodation
was provided for conducting the procedure of the bishops'
court, known as the consistory, and here commissary courts
were held till the beginning of last century. On account
probably of its accumulations of records the place was
3IO GLASGOW MEMORIALS
sometimes called the library-house. Built early in the fifteenth
century, the tower was old and somewhat out of repair about
the time of the Reformation. In 1596 the Town Council
gave a contribution towards repair of the " consistorial place,"
which was then described as ruinous; and in 1628 they
authorised the expenditure of 3100 marks in repairing the
*' liberarie hous." At an earlier date, viz., in 1583, the
kirk-session gave instructions " to big the auld consistorie
windowes with stanes." As shown by old views, the tower
had, in the south wall, on each of the first and second floors,
a large double-pointed window, while two small square
windows were placed in each of the upper and attic floors.
It appears that commissary courts had been at one time
held in the choir, but on 2nd June, 1591, the session
discharged the commissary of Hamilton and all other judges
from holding " consistorie lawis " within the choir, under
the penalty of kirk censures. Other intruders of a different
class had likewise to be ejected from this part of the church.
Readers of the Ingoldshy Legends are aware that jackdaws,
before conversion, are apt to be troublesome in a cathedral,
and the Glasgow authorities, like those of Rheims, had to
adopt protective measures. In March, 15 90-1, the session
instructed the ministers and masters of work to take order
with the choir for keeping out the " kaes," and on loth
June it was ordered that all open places whereby " kaes "
entered the choir were to be closed. Apparently a clearance
was not effected by these means, and extremities were resorted
to on 5th October, 1592, when Thomas Pettegrew was in-
structed to keep the *' kaes out of the queir," powder was
to be procured, and Robert Stevensoun, the bellringer, was
authorised to " sla the kaes."
In connection with public censures a distinction was drawn
EARLY KIRK-SESSIONS OF GLASGOW 311
between those misdemeanants who were elevated on the
" pillar " and minor defaulters, who were privileged to remain
on a level with the rest of the congregation. On 30th
January, 1583-4, Elison Lyndsay acknowledged that she had
seized hold of Mongo Wilsoun, " in the outganging of the
kirk, and spak to him thir wordis : ' Thow sail be theiff
and houngar carrill, and or (i.e. before) Thursdaye at evin
I sail mak tham learis quha said I was makar of the ballat.' "
On his part, Mongo owned that he called Elison a " theiff "
and something still more opprobrious. As the aggressor and
more culpable of the two, Elison was ordered " to pas on
Sondaye next to the pillare," while Mongo Wilsoun, who
had also to appear, was allowed " to stand laiche." At next
meeting of session "laiche" was "interpret ony place in the
kirk amang the people." On 4th June two damsels who
had incurred some " sclander " of a mild type were ordered
to appear on Sunday " on the place quhair the barnes sayis
the catechise, and thair grant thair fait and mak repentance."
Intimation was likewise to be made to " all servandis " to
conduct themselves becomingly. In June, 1585, one who
was to receive an admonition in the kirk on Sunday was
directed " to sit upon the laiche stope quher the pulpet
stude abefoir, foiranentis the minister." Other references to
the changed position of the pulpit are noticed on i8th June,
1584, when instructions were given to remove the " auld
stanes quhair the pulpet stud afore," and again on 20th
October, 1586, when the order for removal was renewed,
and it was directed that the stones should be " laid out in
ranks for the women to sit on." On 2nd October, 1589,
a " pillar " was ordered to be made at the kirk's expense.
For a long time subsequent to the Reformation there were
few fixed seats in the church, those who desired to be so
312 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
accommodated usually supplying themselves. " Buirdes and
furmes to the communion" were purchased in March, 1578-9,
out of the dues received on admission of a burgess.^ Wodrow
quotes an order by the kirk-session for the cutting of an
ash tree in the High Kirk yard " to make formes to the
kirk." As already noted, women had been accommodated
with stone seats in 1584, but that was perhaps only a tem-
porary expedient. On 9th January, 1588-9, intimation was
made "that the women bring with thame ane stuill to sit
upon or ellis content thame selfis to sitt on the fluire as
becumis." On loth July following, women were forbidden
to occupy the *' menis furmes, aither in the Hie Kirk or
Blakfreir Kirk," a regulation which was in accordance with
the practice in pre-Reformation times when the north side
of the nave was occupied by the women and the south
side by the men. Under an order passed by the session
in 1587 all persons were required in time of prayer to
*' bow their knee to the ground." Some of the deacons of
crafts had desired to have a *' loft " in the choir, whereby
they might " mair commodiouslie heir the word of God,"
and in November, 1591, the session desired them to come
to a definite resolution on the subject. On an answer being
given that the deacons did not desire to build a lott, the
session protested they should be at liberty to give such
permission to any others who might apply.
There are several references to bell-ringers and keepers of
the "knok." When M'Ure published his history in 1736
there were two large bells and a " big clock " in the north-
west tower. At least one of the bells had been recast by
that time, but it is probable that the bells and clock which
were in use in the sixteenth century occupied much the same
^ Glasg. Rec. i. p. 74.
HOUR-GLASS FROM THK
CATHEDRAL OF
GLASfiOW
BIBLE (PRINTED BY ROBERT BARKER IN 1017)
IN THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH
OF GLASGOW.
In original binding, ivith clasps and chain as ' sould by James
Saunderis at the Hie Kirk of Glasgoiu, Anno 1620 '
PULPIT SAND-GLASS.
Now omned by the Corporation
of Glasgozu.
EARLY KIRK-SESSIONS OF GLASGOW 313
position as did those of M'Ure's time. In 1585 arrangements
were made with the *' beddell " for ringing the bells, and
the " knock " was to be inspected by craftsmen and repaired.
Some months later the minister, a bailie, and the parson of
Renfrew were asked to confer with " Mr. Johnne Ros and
Bessie Douglas (his mother) anentis the bellis ringing and
knok." In February, 1588-9, at which time Ros was town
clerk of Glasgow, the kirk-session " thinkis best that Mr.
Johnne Ros travell with his mother to get and obtene the
gift grantit for ringing the bellis," and they sent a com-
missioner to Edinburgh to assist in the negotiations. If the
gift should be obtained it was arranged that " the proffeit
to be gotten thairby be applyit to the ringing of the bellis,
be the discretioun of the sessioun." From the session's
minutes in November, 1590, it is gathered that "Mr. John
Ros, toun clerk," had obtained a " gift " of £/\.o yearly out
of the thirds of church benefices, being the " stipend he hes
as secrestar {i.e. sacristan) for the ringing of the bellis."
The session desired the " sacristan " either " to follow furth
his gift to the rycht use or ellis to transfer his gift in the
kirkis handis for the rycht use quhairfor the gift was obteinit."
The following list of endowments is engrossed in the record
at this time without explanation, but it seems to have some
connection with the gift : — (i) 6 merks furth of Blythswood
for ringing the bells; (2) 3 stones of wax furth ofBothwell
yearly ; (3) 10 merks furth of the parson of Moffat's house ;
(4) the laird of Keir 40s. yearly for wax to the kirk ; (5)
furth of the town of Ruglen 40s. to the " sacreister." The
magistrates and the session asked the Town Council to arrange
that the person who had charge of the "mort" bell, being
the bell which passed through the town on the occasion of
burials, should also ring the bells in the High Kirk and
314
GLASGOW MEMORIALS
attend the " knok " there. On loth December, Robert
Stevenson was instructed to attend to the bells and knok,
and six months afterwards he was asked if he would take
charge of the mort bell and the ringing of the High Kirk
bell, for which he was to get a money payment and likewise
the grass in the kirkyard. As Patrick M'llwane was " con-
tinewit belman for the deid," that part of the work was not
Diameter, 6| in. across the mouth. Height, including Handle, g\ in.
THE DEAD OR SKELLET BELL, 1641.
assigned to Stevenson, but he got charge of the kirkyard,
and was authorised to exact for each horse or cow trespassing
on the ground 4od. and for each calf 2s. In October,
1 591, it was reported that three persons had not only put
their " bestiall " in the kirkyard, but, after the animals had
been seized for trespassing and placed in the Castle by the
official " poyndar," they had removed them therefrom
without authority. On 28th October the two ministers and
others were desired to consider as to the '* beddellschip,"
and meanwhile Christopher Knox was continued in that office
EARLY KIRK-SESSIONS OF GLASGOW 315
which he had held from at least the year 158 1-2. At that
time he is designated in a protocol "Sir" Christopher,
indicating that he was a priest. On 4th November, 1591,
Knox was discharged for misbehaviour, but he was shortly
afterwards reponed. In regard to fees it was at this time
resolved that at each marriage the " beddell " should be
paid 4od. and at each baptism 2s. Part of the beddell's
duties was to attend " with his staff, for keeping the quietnes
of the kirk and comely order," during sermons.
A curious form of divination known as " turning the
riddle " was sometimes resorted to for discovering the per-
petrator of theft. Suspended on a pair of scissors or tongs,
held in the hands of suspected persons by rotation, while
words such as *' By St. Peter and St. Paul, did A. B. (naming
the holder for the time) steal," etc., were repeated, the
" riddle " (i.e. sieve) turned round on the guilty person being
named. A case of this sort was brought before the session
on 2nd January, 1583-4, when "Janet Speir grantit that
scho turned the riddell, about ane yeir syne, and that Besse
M'Kenne, wantit sum geir, quha with consent of Besse
King desyrit hir to caus turn the riddell for the geir scho
wantit, and said thir wordis : ' Be St. Peter and St. Pawin,
thai that hes my geir stollen,' etc. ; and sayis that about
xij yeiris syne scho saw the riddall turned at the Flesche
Corse for ane peice clayth that Peter Burn, tailor, wantit."
Janet was ordered to be put in the " heich hous of the
tolbuyth " and to find surety for her appearance before one
of the bailies and the minister. Several witnesses were
brought forward, but nothing very definite was proved, and
eventually the Presbytery were asked to take the matter on
hand. Release from the tolbooth was obtained on 9th
January, when John Wilson, tailor in Trongate, became
3i6 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
surety for Janet Speir *' that scho sail keip guid ordour with
hir nychtburis and sail absteyne fra flyting with thame in
tymes cuming."
It appears from the session records of St. Andrews that for
certain aggravated offences delinquents were imprisoned in the
steeple of the parish kirk, and the records now under notice
show that a similar course was followed in Glasgow. The
place of confinement is designated simply " the steeple," but it
is supposed that this indicates the laigh steeple or north-west
tower. The compartment used for the purpose was apparently
an uncomfortable place of abode, especially in cold weather,
and it was not always that so much consideration was shown to
its destined occupants as was done on 3rd March, 1585-6,
when one was ordained " to be put in the stipill how sone the
wedder growis warmer." On 21st March, 1587-8, two women
were sentenced to be " cartit and doukit " on the following
Monday, and till then to remain in the steeple. About the
end of 1588 " ane commoun cart," in which to parade
offenders, was ordered by the session, and both at this and
other times a culprit is not unfrequently ordered to be *' cairtit,
doukit, and banesit the toun for ever," or to be " cairtit
throuch the toun and doukit in Clyde, or ellis to pay xl. s."
Those who could afford the expenditure often compounded for
imprisonment in the steeple or other degradations by money
payments. Thus on i6th January, 1583-4, a " relapser " paid
40s. " to withhald him fra the stipill," and on same day there
was received *' fra Helen Riddell half a merk for the stepill."
On 19th March one who was sentenced to be " aucht dayes in
the stepill, ane daye in the croce, and ane day in the pillar" was
relieved from the steeple part of the penance on her finding
surety for payment of 20s. and for her appearance at the cross
and pillar and future good behaviour. On 30th April another
EARLY KIRK-SESSIONS OF GLASGOW 317
paid 6s. 8d. for exemption from '* stepilling " and for being
allowed to appear at the cross and the pillar " in her awin
clathis " and not in " sekclayth." In 1589 the session gave
instructions for the purchase of " asmekill sekclayth as
wilbe ane goun to be put on the bodie of anie persoun
deserving that weid."
The money received from " penitents " was of considerable
amount, and instructions were given that it should not be
spent except with the consent of the whole session. In April,
1584, a portion of the money was appointed to be applied in
repairing the " knok in the kirk," and in February, 1586-7,
it was directed that the " penitentis silveir," so far as necessary,
should be expended in repairing the College Kirk. Though
the College, otherwise called the Blackfriars, and sometimes the
Laigh Kirk, belonged in property to the College authorities,
it was frequently used as a city church before its formal
transfer to the community as such in 1635. In April, 1588,
one of the magistrates, the second minister, and others were
instructed to inspect the accounts of the " penitentis " money
and to arrange for the removal of pavement from the
Cathedral crypt to the College Kirk. In the following
February the session appointed one of the bailies, the senior
minister, and others to confer with the principal and masters
of the College regarding the repair and uphold of Blackfriars
Kirk, and on 20th March the sum of 49s. 6d. was paid to a
glasswright for putting glass in one of the windows. On 30th
December, 1591, the master of work was instructed to build in
the same kirk a wall between the choir and the steeple, and
six months later a seat for the reader was to be constructed.
On 6th July the session resolved there should be a school
" ^^ggit " ^^ the Blackfriar Kirk in a manner to be arranged
with the Magistrates and Council, but on account of the want of
3i8 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
Town Council records at that time fuller particulars regarding
the school are not procurable. Reverting to the " penitentis "
money, it is found that in November, 1589, the session
resolved that all penalties uplifted from offenders should in
future be applied towards the repairing of the High Kirk and
kirk work. Two months later the collector of the penalties
was authorised to pay to David Reid, surgeon, 10 merks for
relief of Robert Graye, who had been hurt in the work of the
kirk.
The perennial and ubiquitous '* flyter " caused trouble in
Glasgow as elsewhere. In September, 1589, "the haill herring
wyfes," three in number, were warned against " flytting or
banning " with each other or their neighbours under the
penalty of 20s. each, making repentance in the kirk, and being
" carttit and doukit." On 1 6th October the magistrates, in
conjunction with the session, passed an Act referring to the
prevalence in the town of " sweiring, banning, and sclander-
ouslie flytting," imposed fines against those possessed of
money, and ordered those who had none to be put in the
"joggs." Parents were to be liable for their children,
" because the barnis learnis of evill parenttis to sweir at
everie word, and also to ban." The Act was to be intimated
from the pulpit, at the Cross and through the town by tuck
of drum. In July, 1590, Kate Liddell was ordered to make
her repentance in the pillar on Sunday for maligning Jeane
Duncane by saying to her — " Thou tuk my fruit of my tree,
thou causit Thomas Stewart to take thame and receat thame
as ane tratour, and naething to leif upon but hir fruit." As
other examples of uncomplimentary language it may be noted
that Elspeth Weir said — " Scho suld ding out all the harnis of
Jonet Stobo," and that Elspeth Fleming was accused of saying
— "Scho suld gar Marion Woddrope slevir in the brankis,"
EARLY KIRK-SESSIONS OF GLASGOW 319
On 20th May, 1591, the session desired the magistrates
to take order with " blasphemaris, flytteris, and banneris " in
the meal market. Even meetings of session were sometimes
invaded by those transgressors against the laws of decorum.
In July, 1585, John Reid was found to be a disturber of
the session by using many injurious words, calling the minister
" mansworn," saying he had " ane brassin face," and that the
" King was but ane barne and dremand " (originally written
*' slepand " ) when the Act of Parliament for punishment
of certain transgressors was passed, " with mony uther wikit
and ungodlie wordis." Reid was ordered to appear in the
pillar " in sekclayth " next Sunday and confess his fault
and ask God, the congregation, and the session forgiveness
for his offence. Sometimes the session were in a lenient
mood, as when, in the case of Issobell Ruthven, *' aganis
quhom the sessioun findis na recent sclander," it was
thought that offences *' done be hir in auld tyme " should
be buried and in no wise called to remembrance.
Excommunication is referred to on loth March, 1585-6,
when intimation was ordered to be made from the pulpit
" that William Wilsoun is excommunicat, and to admoneis
all men to abhorre his cumpanye." Isolation could not be
easily enforced, especially when those under the ban of the
Church were numerous. The co-operation of the Magistrates
and Council was desired on 23rd January, 1588-9, when the
two ministers were deputed to announce to them the " names
of the excommunicantis quha frequentis oppinHe the publict
streittis." At next meeting the Magistrates were asked to
cause their officers to warn the excommunicated persons to
keep within their houses till they were absolved. Archibald
Hegate, who had been town-clerk in 1581, and for a few years
afterwards, was more than once excommunicated on account
320 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
of his prelatic tendencies. In September, 1589, the session
were satisfied by his " outward humiliatioun," and appointed
a deputation to address the Presbytery on his behalf, but any
compromise which may then have been effected was not final.
In February, 1 590-1, the Principal of the College, one of the
ministers, and others were enjoined, " as thai favour God and
ane guid cause, and the quietnes of this commoun welthe, that
thai commoun with Archibald Hegate, Matthew Heriott, and
Mr. Johnne Ros (then town-clerk), and James Lyoun, and the
rest of the nycthboures of the toun for to see the mater foUowit
furth quhair it left for quieting of the dissensions amangis
thame." On 1 6th September there is a long statement regarding
the " contraversie " between Ros and Hegate, whereby great
trouble had ensued, and more was likely to follow unless
reconciliation could be effected. Commissioners were
appointed with the view of adjusting differences, and if this
could not be managed in Glasgow application was to be made
to the King to take extreme measures for that end.
Another prominent citizen, Mr. David Cuninghame, at one
time subdean of Glasgow, comes in for a considerable share
of attention. At one time Cuninghame was in good repute
in the ranks of the Presbyterian party, with whom he actively
co-operated in framing the heads of kirk policy, but on his
acceptance of the Bishopric of Aberdeen, in 1577, he lost
favour with some of his former associates. It happened also
that about eight years afterwards the Bishop had to defend
himself in the Church Courts against a charge of immorality.
The accusation is noticed in the session records in December
and February, 1585-6, where there is engrossed a long letter
from the Bishop, in which he expresses his readiness to
" mantayne my honestie and satisfie that malicious sclander
inventit against me, ane man of reputatioun " ; but he wished
EARLY KIRK-SESSIONS OF GLASGOW 321
a week's delay at that particular time because he was detained
in Edinburgh in connection with controversies regarding his
benefice. The letter, which is dated 2nd February, concludes
with the following interesting allusion to public affairs :
" The devill is raging, and the Antichrist of Rome is trubling
the haill Europe and maist beselie in this Hand. God grant
us the sprit of providens and quietnes amangs our selfis. The
King is Weill affectit to repres papistrie, bot hes nocht sik
assistance as gud men lukit for. The rest to meeting quhilk,
God willing, salle schortlie heireftir." The issue of the
bishop's case is not noticed in the session record, but
Calderwood, the church historian, says the alleged slander
was sufficiently tried and removed.
According to the First Book of Discipline, marriages were
to be celebrated on Sundays in presence of the congregation,
the forenoon being considered the most convenient time ; and
to prevent abuse on the occasion of marriage celebrations an
Act of Parliament was passed in 158 1, against superfluous
banqueting. In October, 1583, Glasgow Town Council
resolved that the amount to be spent on " brydallis " should be
restricted in amount, though the figure is not stated ; and
in the following month the session " statut and ordenit that
thair be na superfluous banket ather in making of marriage or
baptiseing of barnes, and gif thair be persones called the
nomber to be few and the price of payment for thair dennar
to be xviii d." Whoever was to be married in future was to
find surety that each guest should not pay more than i8d.
'* utherwise the banket to be free." Further, as the session
had noticed abuses in consequence of marriages taking place
in the forenoon, partly through excessive indulgence and
partly through persons not attending the kirk, " and geving
thame selfis to prophane gaymes," it was resolved that in
X
322 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
future marriages should be celebrated in the afternoon before
the sermon.
The dyke round the High Kirk yard was not in a condition
to prevent the encroachment of stray animals. In 1578
" Bessie Douglas," relict of Thomas Ros, merchant, and
mother of John Ros, the town-clerk already referred to, was
in possession of the yard, but when the Town Council asked
her to repair the dyke she declined. An arrangement was
then come to with John Pantoun, one of the officers, who in
return for the grass of the yard undertook to uphold the
fences and keep out animals for five years. On 15th July,
1586, the session discharged playing at football, pennistone,
etc., in the yard, and on i6th October, 1589, it was ordered
that there should be no playing at golf or carrict shinnie
(shinty) in the High Kirk or kirkyard or in Blackfriars Kirk
yard, either Sunday or week day.^ The " nine holes," a
game in which nine holes were made in a board or the ground,
at which the players rolled small balls, is alluded to on 17th
July, 1589, when instructions were given to obtain the names
of " thame quha playis at the nyne holes in Litill Govean."
Little Govan was situated on the south side of Clyde, opposite
the present Glasgow Green, and as it was beyond Glasgow
parish it is not obvious why the session concerned themselves
with its affairs.
On 25th June, 1589, at a time when various persons were
called to account for Sabbath breaking and absence from
church, the session directed that the " makaris of beamfyres,"
two days before, should be summoned to next meeting, parents
being responsible for their children and masters for their
servants. The perambulation of the marches, when the
inhabitants assembled on the " Simmerhill," took place yearly
^ Wodfow's Collections (Weems), p. 14..
EARLY KIRK-SESSIONS OF GLASGOW 323
about this time, and it may have been in connection with that
annual turnout that the bonfires were lighted. Bonfires were
often accompaniments of public rejoicing, as on 3rd June, 1605,
when the Town Council paid ;^5 " to the menstrallis, officeris
and bellringeris, for pastyme making that nycht the bonfyris
was furth." In 1590 the Town Council postponed the '* raid
of the Somerhill " till 23rd June "for the observation of the
Sabboth day." Mayday celebrations are referred to in 1592.
On 6th April of that year the session perceiving that the
Sabbath was profaned by " beggeris and youths " bringing in
May playis, resolved that in future neither " menis son,
prenteis nor puir " should profane the Sabbath in that way,
and ordained that the fathers and masters should pay 20s. for
the first and 30s. for the second fault of their sons and
prentices respectively, and beggars were to be banished out
of the town.
There are some references to the appointment of music-
teachers. On 15th January, 1589-90, " Sir George Maxwell "
was to be written to, aslcing if he would come and take on hand
" to teiche musik in Glasgow and learn the youth to play."
Sir George apparently declined the invitation, as at next
meeting the session directed that Alexander Buchan be
*' written for to cum to teiche musik heir in Glasgow and to
play." On 19th February the bailies, ' ministers, and the
principal and a regent of the College were asked to ascertain
" the meanes how that ane honest man may be sustenit in this
toun to be ane sangster and teicher of the youthe of this toun
in musik and playing." On 8th, and again on 15th June,
1592, intimation was ordered to be made by sound of drum
that a " schulemaister and teichar of ane sang scule " had been
appointed, and directing " that barnis be send to him." At
the same time the session asked the Town Council to give to
324 GLASGOW MEMOEIALS
James Burrell 20 merks " of the first end of Sir John Maxwell
stipend, for his service done in the kirk in taking up of the
psalmes." On 15th June the session discharged John Layng
'* in teching of ony barnis in this toun," but whether this refers
to music or to another branch of education is not clear.
The sufferings of French refugees enlisted the sympathy
of the session, and on 23rd May, 1588, they appointed the
principal of the College, the second minister, and others to
wait on the Town Council and advise them of " the necessitie
of thair puir brethrene of France banneisit in Ingland for the
religious cause." At this time the Council records are missing,
and it is not known if the session's appeal had any practical
result. Sympathy was again expressed towards foreign
sufferers when, on 27th August, 1590, the ministers were
desired to confer with the Town Council " tuiching the releiff
to the puir of Geneve," and at next meeting it was reported
that the Town Council had promised to assist the "kirk
of Geneve " as soon as they got opportunity. On 9th
September, 1591, the treasurer was authorised to give 40s.
to " the Spainyardes."
XXI.
THE OLD GRAMMAR SCHOOL OF GLASGOW
BOTH the ancient Scottish Church and the rearranged
ecclesiastical organisation which succeeded it in the
twelfth century made provision for scholastic instruction
being imparted to the limited number of youths, chiefly
destined for the ranks of the priesthood, who required it.
Where cathedrals were instituted the Chancellor presided
over those who taught in letters, and the chantor or pre-
centor looked after the training of the young musicians.
We have no definite account of the constitution of Glasgow
Cathedral till the middle of the thirteenth century, when
Bishop Bondington, with the consent of his chapter, adopted
the liberties and customs of Salisbury. During a vacancy
which followed Bishop Bondington's death the Dean and
Chapter of the Cathedral obtained from the Chapter of
Salisbury an account of the liberties and customs then
prevailing in the latter church, and originally introduced by
Bishop Osmund about the year 1076. Among these usages
it was enjoined that the Chancellor should bestow care in
regulating the schools and repairing and correcting the books,
and that the Chantor should provide for the instruction and
discipline of the boys for service in the choir.^ But while
^ Reg. Episc. No. 211.
326 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
the oversight of schools belonged to the Church, it is known
that from early times municipal authorities freely co-operated
with the clergy in promoting education within their bounds.
Thus in 141 8 the alderman and community of Aberdeen
nominated a master of the burgh schools, and presented
him to the Chancellor of the diocese for approval.^ Forty
years later Glasgow magistrates are likewise shown to be
associated with the Grammar School in that city. On 20th
January, 1460, a churchman named Simon Dalgleish, who
between 1448 and 1476 is found acting successively as
prebendary of Ashkirk, official in the Ecclesiastical Court,
and precentor in the Cathedral, gifted a tenement on the
west side of the High Street to " Master Alexander Galbraith,
rector and master of the Grammar School and to his successors
in office." Unfortunately this document has not been pre-
served, and the nature of the gift can only be gathered from
the description given by the compiler of an old inventory, who
says that the master and his scholars had to perform some
Popish rites, adding that " the said Master Simon appoints
the Magistrates and Council of this burgh patrons, governors,
and defenders of the said donation." ^ It is likely enough that
the magistrates had previously some connection with the
Grammar School, but from this time they appear to have
had the responsibility of maintaining the buildings in which
teaching was conducted, and they gradually acquired entire
control in the management of the school. Previous to the
Reformation, however, the Chancellor asserted his authority,
as is shown in 1494, when it was judically determined that
no one was entitled to keep a school without his special
license.^ Fourteen years later, on the occasion of the Chan-
^ Early Scottish History, p. 256.
- Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. p. 436; ii. p. 557. ^ lb. i. pt. ii. pp. 89-91.
OLD GRAMMAR SCHOOL OF GLASGOW 327
cellor appointing a master of the grammar schools, the
provost and other burgesses asserted that the magistrates
and community had the right of admitting the masters of
the mural schools and other buildings assigned for the
instruction of scholars. Both parties referred to Dalgleish's
gift of 1460 in support of their respective contentions, but
if any decision was arrived at no record of it has been
preserved.^ Previous to the Reformation the master of the
Grammar School was always a priest, probably possessing
at the same time a chaplainry or other benefice. In 1494
William Stewarde, canon of Glasgow and prebendary of
Killearn, founded the chaplainry of St. Ninian at the Leper
Hospital, stipulating that the chaplain, " master of the
Grammar School," should, after the founder's death, commend
him every night to all the scholars before they parted, causing
them to pray devoutly for his soul and the souls of all the
faithful dead.^ At the dispersion of Church revenues which
took place at the Reformation, the magistrates of Glasgow
got a grant of those within the city to be applied for the
maintenance of the ministers and other purposes. Support
of hospitals and schools had been indicated by the Privy
Council as coming within the scope of such grants, and in
accordance with that view the chaplainry of All Saints was
assigned to the master of the High School some time before
1572,^ when the bulk of the Church revenues was transferred
to the University. In 1582 " Maister Patrik Scharpe, maister
of the Grammer Schole of Glasgow," resigned his office,
" togidder with the chapellanrie of Alhallow alter and all
uther annuellis and dewteis perteining thairto," into the hands
of the Town Council, who thereupon, '* be advise of the
1 Dioc. Reg. Prot. No. 342. ^ ^gg_ Episc. No. 469.
^ Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. p. 161.
328 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
maisteris of the Universitle and utheris, haifand power be act
of parliament," elected " Maister Johne Blakburne " as his
successor, and conferred on him the chaplainry and its
revenues.^ Subsequently Sharpe became Principal of the
University. Blackburn was appointed minister of Cardross
in 1603, but retained the mastership of the school till his
translation to Glasgow Barony in 161 5, when the Presbytery
expressed the opinion " that Mr. John cannot well attend
and serve the cuir of the ministry and the grammar school,"
and the Provost asked the Presbytery to assist in looking
out for a " fit person to fill the place of Mr. John, who
had for a long time acquitted himself with great ability." ^
Blackburn, who had been somewhat of a pluralist, got, in
April, i6ro, twenty days' leave of absence from the Grammar
School to enable him to take personal possession of a benefice
in Ireland, procured from the king, " be the moyen of his
freindis and familiaris in court," on condition that he provided
the school " sufficientlie with lernit and qualifeit men to supplie
his place during his absence." ^
The site gifted in 1460 appears to have been of considerable
extent, pieces having been sold from time to time, as narrated
in the published records, and the remainder continued in use
for school purposes. In 1577 a back tenement and yard,
bounded on the west by a hawthorn hedge, was resumed
from an occupying tenant to provide additional accommodation,
*' and to be possest be the maister and barnis, to learne
thairin for evir." * In 1600 the building was getting into
decay, and the Town Council " in respect thai think na thing
mair profitabill, first to the glory of God, nixt the weill of
the towne, to have ane Grammar Schole, and that the same
^ Glasg. Rec. i. p. 99. 2 p^^^i Ecclesio', ii. p. 37.
3 Glasg. Rec. i. p. 31 1. ^ Qlasg. Chart, ii. p. 557.
OLD GRAMMAR SCHOOL OF GLASGOW 329
is altogidder rwinus and man be of new biggit," resolved to
set about the repairing and rebuilding without delay. For
this purpose they resolved to use, so far as necessary, the
stones of the back almshouse, which had fallen into decay
and was deserted, and other means were adopted to raise
the necessary funds and proceed with the work. Among
other contributors were the College authorities, who gave
400 merks, which had been left to them by " Hary the
porter of the College." The emoluments of the master
were likewise augmented by the Town Council bestowing on
him another chaplainry, one which had become vacant in
1600, by the decease of " maister John Davidsone," with
the " haill feu maillis and dewteis pertenyng thairto." At
that time the master was entitled to charge, of quarterly
fee, for each scholar belonging to the town, 5 s. to himself
and IS. 8d. to his " doctour " or assistant. Previous to the
year 16 10 the master had been allowed the admission dues
of two burgesses chosen by him, but in that year the Town
Council terminated that mode of remuneration, and forty
merks yearly were assigned to him in lieu of the former
perquisites.^ Rents and feuduties produced ;^29 12s. in
1646 and £^0 2s. in 1659.^
Blackburn's successor was probably " Master William
Wallace," from the High School of Stirling, he having been
appointed to Glasgow in 161 7. The renewal of his appoint-
ment in 1630 refers to a contract made with him at his entry,
but owing to a blank in the records the " heids, claussis,
tennour, and contentis of the foirsaid contract and appoynt-
ment," which it would be interesting now to know, have
not been preserved. Wallace was, on his death in 1641,
succeeded by Master David Will, also from Stirling, to which
^ G/ajg. Rec. i. pp. 210, 216-7, 3^°- "^ ^^- ••• P- '^9 5 i'i- PP- 55°-'-
330 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
town he returned in 1649. Will, about whom and his
predecessor, both able and learned men, interesting particulars
are given in the late Mr. Hutchison's History of the High
School of Stirling, had a stipend of 400 merks yearly, and
the like sum was at first paid to his successor, Francis Kincaid.
The two "doctors" had no settled stipend till 1649, when
it was agreed that the first doctor should have ;^ioo and
the second 100 merks, payable out of the teinds, which at
that time belonged to the town. They had previously
occasional allowances for preaching. In 1629 two " maisteris
of the Grammar School " got forty merks each " for helping
the ministeris to preitche in their absens"; and there are several
other payments for conducting church services till 1633, when
the Town Council directed them " not to be hard in the lyk
heirefter." In 1647, ^^^^^ ^ visitation of the plague, the
Town Council gave the two doctors, apparently suffering loss
of fees from desertion of pupils, £^^ between them "for thair
straits the tyme of the pestilence being in the towne." In
1663 the master was paid ;^3o6 13s. 4d., one doctor ;^i33
6s. 8d., and the other ;^ioo, all Scots money. ^
A sort of time-table, referring to the period of Kincaid's
mastership and giving six in the morning as the starting
hour on some days, is printed in Dr. Cleland's History of
the High School, and it gives the impression of overstrained
application. This may have tempted the youths to break
loose occasionally, and may partially extenuate them for
conduct causing complaint to the Town Council in 16 10
against " scolleris and prenticis haunting the yairdis quhair
the alie bowlis, Frenche kylis and glaikis ar usit, in with-
drawing thameselfis fra the scole and thair maisteris service,
to thair grit hurt and deboscherie." Skaith to the neigh-
^ G/asg. Rec. i. p. 376; ii. pp. 161, 19, 127; iii. p. 484.
OLD GRAMMAR SCHOOL OF GLASGOW 331
hours' yards, breaking of trees and destruction of herbs
and sown seeds, resulted from indulgence in these frolics,
which were ordered to be stopped, and the master of the
Grammar School was instructed to " ordane his scolleris
to prepare thair bowis for the archerie to thair pastyme." ^
The school's ground for practising archery seems to have
been that referred to in 1653 when the Town Council
found it *' necessar to lay ane calsie in the lone neir the
Grammer Scool buttis."^
Kincaid continued master till 1681, when, "in respect of
his infirmitie and old age," he tendered his resignation,
and the baillies and the regents of the College were asked
to look out for a successor. One of the doctors, George
Glen, was considered fit to be master " for his learning,"
but his " uther qualificatiounes " were not so pronounced,
and the appointment was not settled at that time, though
he eventually secured it.^ During Glen's mastership in
1682 "ane inventar of the bibleothic," being a catalogue
of books in the library, was ordered to be taken, and
a press was to be made for the books which were to
be delivered to the master. In 1685 the Principal and
Professors of the College, along with the ministers, had a
conference with the Magistrates concerning the order,
discipline, and method of teaching, always keeping in view
" ane good correspondence betuyxt the said Gramer
SchooU and the humanitie class in the College." ^ In May
and June, 1688, some trouble was caused by the doings of
Hugh Muir, one of the doctors, who had abused a baillie
and was promptly dismissed and imprisoned. Then came
rumours that " he hes committed severall abuses by strikeing
^ Glasg. Rec. i. pp. 31 1-2. "^ lb. ii. p. 263.
^Ib. iii. 301-3. */^. pp. 317, 380.
332 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
some of the schollaris too seveerle." After investigation,
the Archbishop reported " that Mr. Hugh Muir deserts
his charge sometymes for one day, sometymes for two,
without leave from magistrats or master ; as also it is
found that he doeth exerce too rigid and cruell methods
of discipline, and doeth rudely and unworthily treat the
master, and that he did insolentlie upbrade Baillie Gilhagie
in ane publict place and companie, to whom as being ane
present Magistrat he did ow honour and reverence." ^
In 1689 George Skirvine, formerly master of the Grammar
School of Hamilton, was appointed to Glasgow, and about
that time George Glen, apparently the late master, was
keeping another school, but he was enjoined not to engage
in teaching " to the detriment of the publict Gramer
Schooll." ^ From Skirvine's retiral and the appointment of
William Hamilton, his successor, in 17 15, till the transfer
of educational management from the Town Council to the
School Board, in 1872, a fairly full narrative of Grammar
School affairs is given in Dr. Cleland's Historical Account^
as continued by Mr. Thomas Muir, and the story need
not be recapitulated here. A few notes regarding contem-
porary schools may, however, be given.
Shortly after the Reformation the building called the
Sang Scule, connected with the Collegiate Church of St.
Mary in Trongate, seems to have been converted into a
school for elementary education, called promiscuously a
" Scottis " or "Inglis" school. In 1575 the Town Council
gave the admission dues of a burgess to " Thomas Craig,
techear of the New Kirk Scule, for his panes " ; and in the
following year he was allowed 23s, " for straye to the
mending thairof and for onputting of the samyn." Like
^ G/asg. Rec. iii. pp. 411-2. "^Ib. pp. 433, 471.
OLD GRAMMAR SCHOOL OF GLASGOAV 333
the Grammar School, for which about the same time " straye
to theik " it was purchased, this building had a thatched
roof. In 1578 a sum of ;^io was paid by the Town
Treasurer to Craig " for his support in teicheing in the
New Kirk Scole " ; and a few years afterwards he, as
" maister of the Tronegait Scole," obtained from the Town
Council one of the Collegiate Church chaplainries yielding
;^8 yearly. The teaching of music was about this time
carried on elsewhere, the Town Treasurer paying 40s. yearly
" for the male of ane chalmer to be ane sang scole," In
1626 a reader in the High Kirk named James Sanders
was authorised to teach music, and to charge for each
pupil, per quarter, los. to himself, with 3s. 4d. "to his
man." Sanders was to have a monopoly, all others being
prohibited from teaching music in the town. After an experi-
ence of twelve years this arrangement proved unsatisfactory,
"the musik schooll is altogidder dekayit within this burgh, to
the grait discredit of this citie and discontentment of sindrie
honest men within the same who hes bairnes whom they
wold have instructed in that art." To obviate these com-
plaints it was agreed, Sanders consenting, that Duncan
Birnett, a former teacher, should resume practice and give
instruction on same terms as those prescribed to Sanders,^
In 1639 the number of " Inglish Scoolles " within the burgh
was restricted to four, and one writing school was allowed.
As the population increased an additional number of these
schools was authorised. In 1654 the several " Scottis
scooles " were visited — eight got permission to continue as
formerly and two new ones were sanctioned. All the
schoolmasters were admitted on these special conditions :
" That they carie themselfis religiouslie and honestlie as
1 Glasg. Rec. i. pp. 43, 457, 465, 472, 462, 354, 388,
334 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
becomethe, without any kind of open scandell, and that
they keipe morning and evening prayers in thair respective
scooles and other disciplie thairin as becomethe, and that
they tak no mor scolledge nor quarter payment fra towne
bairnes bot ten schilling quarterlie, and double fra straingers,
except it be the will of the parentis and freinds to whom
they belong to bestow the samyne upon them, and that
they teache and instruct all poore children whomsoever wha
or thair parentis or freinds shall require the samyne of
them, frilie, without any kynd of payment or scolledge
quhatsomevir." ^ Female teachers are sometimes heard of,
as in 1658, when the bailies were instructed "to discharg
the woman that hes tacken upe ane scole, at the heid of
the Saltmercate, at hir awine hand." ^ In November, 1663,
sixteen persons, including nine females, were " permitted to
keep and hold Scotis schooles within the toune, they and
their spoussis, if they ony have " ; and about the same
time a Frenchman was authorised to give instruction in the
French tongue, dancing and fencing. A mistress of manners
is referred to in 1674, and a professor of navigation in
1681 ; while initiation in the three R's is proffered by
Robert Park, from Carmyle, who in 1668 was licensed to
take up a school within any part of the burgh except
Trongait " for instruction of the youth in wrytting, reading,
and arithmetick." ^
The Grammar School, rebuilt and repaired in 1601, did
not last long, as it was taken down and reconstructed in
1656. When the work was in progress a majority of the
Council agreed that " sume littill thing be rasit on the
wastmost gavill," for hanging a bell there if the town
^ G/asg. Rec. i. p. 397; ii. pp. 284-5. '^ I^- ii- P- 39'-
^ lb. iii. 23, 24, 1 80, 308, III.
OLD GRAMMAR SCHOOL OF GLASGOW 335
should so desire ; and two months afterwards the Dean of
Guild and Master of Work were entrusted with " the cair
of completing of the Grammer Schole steiple." ^ It has
been supposed that this reconstructed school was the
building which stood till removed by the operations of
the Improvements Trustees about the year 1871 ; but the
VIEW OF THE OLD GRAMMAR SCHOOL, 1871.
views by Mr. A. D. Robertson of that building, hung in
the Old Glasgow Exhibition of 1894, and reproduced in
the Catalogue (p. 214), do not show any trace of a steeple.
Apparently the schoolhouse, which passed into private hands
when it was superseded by more commodious premises in
1788, had been considerably altered to adapt it for dwelling-
houses. Wodrow, writing after 1700, mentions that "the
stone at present on the back dore hath on it 1601." This
stone, inscribed for the school erected in that year, had
found a place in the subsequent erection, was taken from
^Glasg Rec. ii. pp. 340, 348, 351.
336 GLASGOW MEMORIALS
the building removed by the Improvements Trustees, and
may at the present day be seen in one of the gables of
the High School at Elmbank Street. In 1788 a new
Grammar School was erected on the north side of George
Street, near John Street corner, and about forty years later
a site was chosen farther north. Both sites are now possessed
by the governors of the Technical College. The site of the
old building in the Wynd is now occupied partly by Ingram
Street and partly by the Fire Engine Station and adjoining
buildings.
INDEX
Aberbrothoc abbey, 66, 232,
Aberdeen, 194, 326.
Abington Mote, 185-6.
Accounts of Common Good, 149-50.
Adam's Court Lane, 229.
Adamson, Bishop, 291.
Adelphi Street, 254.
Adrian VI., Pope, 210.
^thelstan, King of England, 172.
Aird, John, elder, 56.
— — younger, provost, 56, 58 ;
mortification by, 56.
Aird's Wynd and Lane, 58.
Alan of Galloway, 221.
Alan, sacristan, 190. '
Alan, Walter, son of, 1 20.
Albany, Countess of, 251.
Albion Street, east and west, 82.
— south and north, 82-3, 90-4.
Ale and beer, impost on, 170, 223.
Alexander L, King, loi.
Alexander II., King, loi, 108.
Alexander III., King, 120, 249.
Alexander III., Pope, 208, 220.
Alexandra Parade, 161.
Allanson, Mr. John, clerk of session,
293-
Alley, 9.
All Saints, chaplainry of, 327.
Alston, John, weaver, 137.
— Thomas, manufacturer, 138.
Altarages, 17, 272.
Ancrum, parish of, 208.
Anderson, James, 53-4.
— John, bailie, 143.
Anderson, Ninian, merchant, 142.
— William, maltman, 35.
— • William, session clerk, 197.
Anderston Burgh, 167.
— Walk, 138.
Anne, Queen, 223.
Anne, St. See Virgin Mary.
Antiburgers, 288.
Antigua Court and Place, 82.
Arbory Fort, 185-6.
Archbishops. See Bishops.
Archdeacon, iio, 174.
Archery, 36, 331.
Argyle, Bishop of, 214, 309.
— Countess of, 223.
— Duke of, 223.
— Earl of, 149.
— Marquis of, 278.
Argyleshire, 50.
Argyle Street, 6, 70, 95-6, 138, 222,
228-9.
Armada, Invincible, 296.
Arran, Regent, 36, 291.
Ashkirk, parish of, 208.
— prebendary of, 326.
Assemblies of citizens, 49, 72-3, 143.
Assembly Rooms, 81.
Auchinarne, 1 1 2.
Auldcorne, John, baker, 32, 36.
Ayr, 29, 30.
— parish of, 207.
Badermonoch, 100, 215.
— Ward, 153.
Badlayn, 100.
33^
GLASGOW MEMORIALS
Bailie Nicol Jarvie, 51.
Bailie of regality, 107-8.
Baillie (Bailzle), Thomas, canon, 210 ;
of Ravenscraig, 211.
— Mr. William, 210-1.
Baldwin of Biggar, 1 1 9-2 1 .
Baliol, John de, 221.
— King John, 221.
Balmanno, John, 25.
Balmanno Street, 20, 25.
Bannatyne, Richard, 269.
Banquets, 149-50.
Baptisms, 301-2.
Bark-holes, 52.
Barlanark, iio. 5^^ Provand.
Barns for storage, 8, 16,
Baron's law, 32.
Barony and regality, 98-1 17, 120, 131,
207.
Barony Church, 17, 126, 197, 263,
276-7, 328.
— glebe, 134-8.
— parish, 126-7.
Barracks, infantry, 36-7.
— yard, 38.
Barras-yet, east, 4.
— nether or south, 4, 50, 53,
Barrowfield (Burrofeild), 31, 139, 223.
Baxter's mills, 154, 159, 161.
Bazaar, 10, 87, 169, 288.
Becket, Archbishop, 232.
Bedlay, 153.
Beggars, badges for, 295 ; to be
punished, 323.
Belhaven, Viscount, 58-9.
Bell, James, of Provosthaugh, 86-7.
— Sir John, provost, 58, 61, 86, 282.
— John, minister, 277, 305.
Bell o' the Brae, 20 ; battle of the,
28-30.
Bell, mort or dead, 313-4.
Bell's Street or Wynd, 80, 82, 86-9.
Bellidstane, William of, 190.
Bells and clock in Cathedral, 312-4.
Berwick, 68.
— North, nunnery of, 243.
Betoun, James, Archbishop of St.
Andrews, 187.
Biggar, 1 19-20.
Bird and dog market, 149.
Birnett, Duncan, music teacher, 333.
Bishopforest, 106.
Bishop Mill, 161.
Bishop Street, 223-4.
Bishops, lands of, 98-117, 131.
— courts of, 174, 176, 309. See
Official.
Bishops and Archbishops —
John (c. 1 1 16- 1 147), named in
" Inquest," c. 11 16, 98.
Herbert (1147-64), 208, 220.
Joceline (1174-99), i, 2, 67-8, 99,
104, 108, 144.
Florence (1202-7), 99-
Walter (1207-32), 100.
William de Bondington (1233-58),
15, loi, 325.
Robert Wischard(i272-i3i6), 102,
249.
John de Lindesay (1317-35), 103,
250.
Walter Wardlaw (1368-89), 104.
Mathew Glendoning (i 389-1408),
1 10.
William Lauder (1408-25), 104.
John Cameron (1426-46), 105,
154-5-
William Turnbull (1448-54), 106,
209,
Andrew Muirhead (1455-73), 5^,
105, 255.
John Lang (1473-82), 106, 200-1.
Robert Blacader (Bishop, 1484-91 ;
Archbishop, 1 49 1 -I 508), 49, 107,
122, 209, 228.
James Beaton ( i 508-22), 1 1 1 .
Gavin Dunbar (1524-47), 109, 139,
168, 210, 242, 267.
James Beaton (1551-68, 1598-
1603), III, 114, 1 16, 140.
James Boyd (1572-81), 113, 150,
168.
INDEX
339
Bishops and Archbishops —
Robert Montgomery (i 58 1-5), 292.
William Erskine (1585-7). 115.
John Spottiswood (1605-15), 117,
168, 177, 306.
James Law (1615-32), 114, 262.
Patrick Lindsay (1633-8), 278.
Alexander Burnet (1663-71, 1674-
79), 279, 283.
Robert Leighton (1671-4), 262.
Arthur Ross (1679-84), 279.
Blacader, Robert, rector, 201.
— Roland, sub-dean, 215, 242, 263.
Blacader's Hospital and Chaplainry,
215, 242, 263-5.
Black Bull Inn, 6, 7.
Blackburn (Blakburne), Mr. John, 328.
Blackfriars. 5^^ Friars Preachers.
— Church, 177, 189-200, 275-8,
292, 301, 305. 308, 317.
— Kirk-yard, 322.
Blackwood (Blakwod), John, 55, 229.
Blair, Bryce, 186.
— John, of Blair, 186.
Blantyre, James, master of, 277.
— Lord, 277-8.
Blythswood, 7, 58-9, no, 135, 143,
216-8, 222, 313.
— mansion, 58-60.
— Square, 90.
Boats, fishing, 67, 148, 220-3.
Bondsman, 108.
Bonfires, 322-3.
Bonkell, William de, burgess, 20.
Bonnetmakers, 48.
Books of Discipline, 288.
Booths near Cross, 2, 37.
Bothwell, 29, 227-8, 313.
— Collegiate Church of, 169.
— Bridge, 285.
Bowastie, 18.
Bowling greens, 88-90.
Boyd, Lord, provost, 149, 155.
— Matthew, 168.
Braidwode, James, treasurer of kirk-
session, 294.
Y 2
Branks, 297, 304, 318.
Bridge over Clyde, 4, 29, 54, 70, 141,
169-70, 252, 255, 272.
— at Broomielaw, 78-9, 135.
— at Camlachie, 36.
— at Drygate, 1 5
— at Gallowgate, 33.
— at Linningshaugh, 63.
— over Camlachie Burn, 63.
— St. Andrews suspension, 133.
Bridgegait, 4, 48-65, 253, 282.
Brisbane, Robert, of Milton, 81.
Broomhill, 133, 135, 142, 146, 215.
— Croft, 136.
Broomielaw, 67, 78-9, 138, 166, 221
Bruce and Wallace, wars of, 29.
Brumewaird, 224.
Brunswick Street, 94-7.
Bryce, James, victualler, 137.
Buchan, Alexander, musician, 323.
Buchanan, Provost Andrew, 94.
Buchanan Street, 7, 25.
Buns Wynd, 24.
Burgesses, admission of, 130, 149, 329.
Burgh Court, 130, 172-81.
Burgh, foundation of, i, 2, 104;
royal, 129.
Burgh Main, 130.
Burgh roods, 9, 1 10.
Burghers, 288.
Burghs, royal, origin of, 102-4, '29-
Butts in Gallowmuir, 36; Grammar
School, 331.
• — battle of the, 36.
Burn, Peter, tailor, 315.
Burns as boundaries, 133-5.
Burrell, James, 324.
Bursaries, 275.
Cadder, 100, no; parish church of,
7\-
— parish of, loi, 153, 207-8, 215.
Cadiho or Hamilton, prebend of, 208.
Cadow or Cadioch, David de, 191.
Calton Burgh, 167.
340
GLASGOW MEMORIALS
Calton Green, 38.
— Mouth, 166.
Calves and calf herd, 74-5.
Cambridge Street, 146.
Cambuslang, parish of, 207.
Camera, Gilbert de, 19.
Camlachie, 35-6.
Camlachie Burn, 4, 3 1, 36, 49, 54, 63,
285.
— Bridge, 36.
— Lone, 35-6.
Camp, Old, and Camphill, 182-8.
Campbell, Colin of Ardkinglass,
222.
— Colin of Blythswood, 58-60,
— James, 222.
— John, of Woodside, 58, 143, 146.
— Mary, (or Jean), 50-1.
— Robert, of Silvercraigs, 50.
Campbells of Blythswood, 51.
Campsie, parish of, 207.
Canals, 17, 25, 134.
Candlemakers and houses, 84-5.
Candleriggs Street, 10, 80, 84-90,
169, 288.
Canon lands (Ayrshire), 221-2, 271.
Canon Street, 7.
Canons, honorary, 209.
Cardross, parish of, 207.
Carntyne Road, 26, 28.
Carnwath, church of, 212.
— parish of, 207.
Carrick, 99.
— Sir John of, chaplain, 190.
Carstairs, parson and parish of, 1 7,
207.
— manse, 17.
Cart, river, 188.
Castle, Bishops, 14, 15, 1 16, 218, 226,
256, 259, 314.
Castle Street, 15, 25, 134-5, 138,
239, 263.
Cathcart, 123-5, 127, 186-8.
— Kirkyard, 247.
Cathcart, Lord, 186.
Cathcart Road, 288.
Cathedral or High Church, 20, 226-7,
305-15, 325.
— dean and chapter of, 221.
— chapter house of, 292.
— story of threatened destruction of,
305-7-
Cathedral Square, 218.
Catherine Lane, 16, 17.
Cattle and swine, " chan " of, 99.
Cess, 171.
Chapels and Churches, pre-Reforma-
tion, 225-46.
Charles L, King, 220, 254.
Charles IL, King, 199, 282-3.
Charlotte, Queen, 94.
Chirneside, Robert, of Possil, 5.
Christian Brotherhood Church, 83.
Church attendance, 297-304, 31 1-2,
322-3.
Church property, 138-9, 270-2.
Churches and Chapels, pre-Reforma-
tion, 225-46. See Ministers ;
Meeting-houses ; Kirk Sessions ;
also names of Churches.
City Hall, 89, 149.
— Parish, 126.
Clergy, impoverishment of, 23.
Clochstane, 178.
Clock in cathedral tower, 312.
Cloggie, Thomas, 264-5.
Clyde, River and Firth of, 2, Gj,
133, 184, 217, 220-3, 248, 316.
See Bridge.
Clyde Street, 64, 78-9.
Clydesdale, I20-I, 307.
Clydesmill, 153.
Coals and Coal pits, 132, 146-7.
Cochrane(Cochran),John,ofPolmadie,
124.
— Mungo, merchant, 88-9.
Coffee-house, 41.
Coitis, Andrew, marshal of barony, 32,
College Street, 169.
College. See University.
Colquhoun, Adam, rector of Stobo,
234.
INDEX
341
Commissory Courts, 309-10.
Common Good, 128-50, 277-80.
Common lands, grants of, 1 10, 129-33,
147-8; sale of, 55-6, 72-9,
138-48.
Communion services, 302-4.
Conclud, 100.
Consistory. See Bishop's Courts.
Conventicles, 197, 282-8.
Convention of royal burghs, 141.
Correction House, 27.
County divisions^ 118-27.
Court-house at Green, 121.
Courts, barony and regality, loi, 174,
— burgh. See Assemblies ; also
Burgh Court.
Covenanters, 197, 281-8.
Covvcaddens, 135, 145, 215, 217,
Cowcaddens Toll, 166.
Cowlairs, 133, 142.
Cowper, Mr. John, minister, 276-7,
301, 303-5-
Cow Lone, 6, 84, 94.
— Back, 7, 18, 96.
Cows grazing, 75, 144.
Crafts Hospital, 216, 259, 261, 265.
5^^ Trades.
Craig, Thomas, teacher, 332-3.
— Walter, notary, 143.
Craigmak (Craignaught), 24, 25, 144,
202-4, 220, 288.
Craigs, Easter, 36, no, 133, 159,
212-4.
— Wester, 1 10, 133, 159, 165, 212-5.
Cranstonhill, 224.
Crawfurd, Alexander, 59.
— Henry, parish clerk of Cadder, 1 68.
— John Stuart, of Milton, 72.
— Robert, of Possil, 1 86.
— Thomas, 186.
— Sir William, chaplain, 264.
Crofts of burgesses, i lo.
Cromwell, 5 i .
Cross. See Market.
Crosshill, 123-5, 182.
Crown Street, 288.
Crubbis, 16.
Cuik's Ward, 153.
Cumbraes, 178, 222.
Cumbria, 98, loi, 121.
Cumnock, parish and rector of, 207,
233-
Cunningham, 99.
— (Conyngham), David, founder of
St. Mungo's Chapel, 236.
— David, Bishop of Aberdeen, 3 20- 1.
— Donald, of Aikinbar, 237.
— Joan, 219.
Customs or tolls, i, 2, 105-6, 148-9.
Customs and taxations, early, 163-71.
Dalgleish, Simon, gift by, of Grammar
School site, 326.
Dairy, parish of, 221.
— vicarage of, 243.
Darnley, Lord, 221, 276.
Darnley's Cottage, building called,
218-9, 259-
Dassiegreen, 148.
David L, King, 98, 103, 1 19-20, 122,
125, 163, 173, j86, 222, 248-9.
David IL, Queen of, 250.
Davidson, Mr. John, 329.
Deanery of Glasgow, 267.
Deanside, 16, 25, iio, 215-6.
~ Well, 24.
Denholm's Histor}' of Glasgow, 17.
Dennestoune, Mr. Archibald, 197.
Dennistoun district, 215.
Dervorgilla of Baliol, 221.
Dick, Sir Archibald, priest, 296.
Dinner at election of Magistrates, 177.
Discipline, books of, 289.
Dobbie, Robert, 17.
Dobbie's Loan, 263.
Doghillok, I 7.
Donald's Land, 80-1.
Douglas, Mr. Archibald, parson, 221,
269-70, 275-6, 308.
— Besse, 313, 322.
— Sir Robert, of Blackerstoun, 59.
— Archibald, Earl of, 227.
342
GLASGOW MEMORIALS
Douglas, Joanna, Countess of, 227.
Douglas, parson and parish of,i 76, 207.
— prebendal manse of, 176.
Dovecot (Dowcatt), 58-9.
— Green, 78.
Dowhill, 190, 237.
Drink silver, i 50.
Drummoderhill, 223.
Drummoderis Aikeris, 224.
Drygate, 14, 15, 20, 26-7, 90, 153,
176, 225-6.
Duke St., 21, 24, 28.
Dumbarton Road, Old, 161.
Dumbarton, Collegiate Church of, 12 3,
251.
— shire of, 125.
— sheriff of, 223.
Dumfries, 66, 201.
Duncan, George, of Barrowfield, 196.
Duncane, Jean, 318.
Dunfermline abbey, 187-8.
Dunlop, William, principal of College,
182.
Durisdeer, parish of, 207.
Dwellings near cross, 2, 37, iio.
Dyers, 48.
Eaglesham Croft, 33, 52.
— parish of, 207.
— prebend, 33.
Early Kirk-Sessions of Glasgow, 289-
324- .
Early Territorial possessions, 128-50.
Easter Common, no, 133, 140- 1,
147.
Eastercraigs. See Craigs.
Eastwood, parish of, 123.
Eddleston, parson and parish of, 18,
208.
— manse, 18.
Edgar, King of England, 172.
Edinburgh, 164, 201.
— chapel of St. Roque at, 239, 240-1.
— fire in, 84.
— meetings of Quakers at, 91.
— road to, 42.
Edinburgh, slaughter-houses in, 88.
— visits to, 149.
Edward II., King of England, 250.
Eglinton, earls of, 27, 176, 187-8.
Eglinton, Archibald, 262.
Electricity station, 16.
Elgin, 194.
Elmbank Street, 336.
Elphinstone, Sir George, 58-9, 153,
217,225.
— James, of Woodside, 158.
English garrison, 28-30.
Episcopacy, abolition of (1639), 117,
278 ; (1689), 279.
— restoration of (1662), 117, 279,
281.
Erskine, church of, 216.
— parson and parish of, 58, iio,
135, 207.
— prebend of, 216-9.
— prebendal manse of, 218-9.
Europe, troubles of, 321.
Exchange, 81.
Excommunication, 319-20.
Fair, Glasgow, 25, 202-6.
Farie, James, 134, 142.
Fary, Jonet, 155.
Fast days, 137-8.
Fees, annual, to magistrates and
officials, 150.
Ferguson, Margaret, 303.
— Peter, weaver, 137.
Feuars. See Rentallers.
Feuduties. See Rentals.
File Mill, 161.
Finlay, Kirkman, 39.
Fire Engine Station, 336.
Fires, destruction of buildings by, 10,
37, 40-
Fishergait, 54-5, Sj, 71.
Fishings, Sj, 148, 220-3.
Fleming, Elspeth, 318.
— James, 140, 230.
— Michael, canon of cathedral, 261.
— William, 64.
INDEX
343
Fleming's map, 17.
Flemington, 140, 142, 147.
Flesh Cross, 315.
Flesh Market, 84-7,
Flodden, 176.
Floker, Sir Patrick, master of hospital,
249.
Floods, 62-3.
Flyters, 318-9.
Fool, wooden sword to, 74.
Foot-balls, purchase of, 74.
Forbes, Sir Thomas, chaplain, 239.
Forest, lands in free, 102.
Forfar, 66.
Forret, James, of Barrowfield, 223-4.
— Thomas, citizen, 219.
Forsyth, Mr. Thomas, rector, 20 1.
Forth and Clyde Canal, 17, 25.
Forth, Firth of, 223.
Forts, British, 13, 14, 183-6.
Foundation-stone, London Street, 41.
Fountain at Broomielaw, 6"] .
France, ambassador in, 1 16.
— Kings of, 210.
Francis, King, 201.
Frankfield Loch, 160.
French refugees, 324.
Friars Minors (Greyfriars), 24, 144,
190, 200-6, 220.
Friars Preachers (Blackfriars), place of,
4, 25, 29, 189-200.
— property of, 8, 190.
— seal of, 193.
Friends, Society of, 90-4.
Fruit trees, 71.
Fulbar, 69.
Fullars. See Walkers.
Gallow Aiker, 31-2, 36.
Galloway, Mull of, 222.
Gallowgate, 31-41, 166, 236-7, 285.
Gallowgate Burn, 33.
Gallow Hill and Gallow Knowe, 31.
Gallowmuir,Over and Nether, Old and
New, 31-41, no, 133, 139-41,
212, 237, 244.
Garngadhill, 49, 133, 140-1, 147,
154-5-
Garscube Road, 143, 145-6.
Geese, 9, 55.
Geneva, kirk and poor of, 324.
George Square, 7, 17,25, 28, 38, 133.
— Street, 21, 24, 28.
Gibson, Janet, 297.
— John, parson of Renfrew, 260.
Gibson's Wynd, 10, 11.
Glllemachoi of Conclud, 108.
Girth Burn, 256.
Glasgow Burn, 134, 216-8.
Glasgow-field Road, 138.
Glasgow Herald, 47.
Glasgow Lotteries, 38-47.
Glasgow, parish of, loi, 125-7.
Glasgow P;7W0 (parsonage), i 10,207-8,
219-24, 266-9.
— Secundo (vicarage), 207-8, 219-20,
267.
Glasgow Street, 28.
Glassford Street, 94, 96.
Glebe, 134-8.
— Street, 135, 239.
Glen, George, teacher, 331-2.
Glencairn, earl of, 36, 245.
Goosedubs (Guis Dubs), 55-8, 60.
Gorbals, village and barony of, 58, 123,
124-5, 148, i52-3> 167, 217-8
254-5.
— court-house and prison, 255.
— parish of, 125, 127.
See Leper Hospital.
Govan, 98, 100, 122, 248.
— parish of, loi, 122-7, 207.
— prebendal manse of, 256.
— ward, I 52-3.
Govan, Little, 123, 250-1, 322.
Graham, John, of Dougalston, 71.
— John, son of a burgess, 194.
— William, of Lambhill, 136.
Grahamston, 95.
Grain Mills, old, 151-62.
Grammar School, 4, 275, 325-36.
butts, 331.
344
GLASGOW MEMORIALS
Grammar School Wynd, 7, 18, 85,
92, T,z6, 328-9, 334-6.
Graye, Robert, 318.
Green, New, 38, 42, 49, 62-5, 76,
141, 143, 147-8, 154, 322.
— Old, 8, 14, 55, 66-79, H3-
— (Little), 55, 58, 63-5.
Greenhead (Old Green), 55, 72-3.
Greenock, laird of, 222.
Greyfriars. See Friars Minors.
— Wynd, 24, 200.
Grummell, know of, 14.
Gyrth Cross, 135.
Haddington, 68.
Haggs, 122-3.
Hall, Robyne of, of the Fulbare, 71.
— Thomas of, 69, 70.
Halls of Fulbar, 69, 70.
Hamilton, commissary of, 310; parish
of, 207-8 ; grammar school of,
332-
Hamilton, David de, 233,
— Sir Gavin of, 190.
— Gavin, dean and vicar-general, 2 i o.
— James, lord, 190.
— James, subdean, 214.
— Mr. James, reader, 273, 290.
— John, archbishop of St. Andrews,
214.
— Margaret, 297.
— Robert, 146.
— William, master of Grammar
School, 332.
Hamilton, ducal family of, 233.
Hamilton Street, Great, 38, 166.
Hamiltons of Silvertonhill, 160.
Hangman, 32-3.
Hangman's Brae, 32.
Harbour at Broomielaw, 78-9.
Harley, William, 90.
Hary, the porter of the College, 329.
Havanna, 288.
Hay, Mr. Andrew, rector of Renfrew,
275> 292, 307-
Hegate, Archibald, town clerk, 3 1 9-20.
Henry the Minstrel, 29, 54.
Herbertson, George, 236.
— Robert, vicar, 267.
Heriott, Matthew, 320.
Herrings, 229 ; impost on, 169, 220-3.
— teinds and assize of, 220-3.
Highland Host, 282.
Highlands, 6j.
High Street, 4, 13-30, 40, 66, 80-1,
87, 90, 144, 169, 190, 196, 200,
226, 235.
Hill, Mr., minister of Barony parish,
137-
— James, 224.
Hogganfield Loch, i6o.
Holy-days, observance of, 299, 300.
Holyrood, canons of, 164, 222.
Holyrood house, abbey of, 91.
Hommil, Archibald, citizen, 53.
Horses grazing, 75.
Hospital, town's, 77.
Hospitals, pre-Reformation, 247-65.
Houk, William de, 2t;o.
Houston, James, subdean, 215, 242.
Howard Street, 75.
Howesone, Mr. John, minister of
Cambuslang, 298.
Howgate Strand, 138.
Huchonson, George, 253.
— Thomas, 253, 302.
Hutcheson Street, 94.
Hutchesons' Hospital, 93-4, 148, 187.
Hutchesontown, 62, 90.
Ingram Street, 7, 84, 96-7, 169, 336.
Inner High Church, 197, 286.
Innes, Cosmo, 31, 66.
— Father, 210.
Innocent, Pope (1246), 189.
Inns (ynnis), " before Blak Freris,"
66.
Inverkip, 222.
Inverness, 194.
Ireland, troubles in, 286 ; benefice in,
328.
Isles, far off, 67.
INDEX
345
ackdaws (kaes) in Cathedral, 310.
ackson Street, 38.
amaica Street and bridge, 78, 135,
152, 166.
ames I., King, 248-9, 252.
ames II., King, 106, 209.
ames III., King, 106, 201, 228.
ames IV., King, 209-10, 239.
ames V., King, 268.
ames VI., King, 16, 1 16, 129, 214-6,
272, 321.
ames VII., King, 10, 61, 170, 283.
ames, St., altarage of, 33.
enny's Burn, 248.
oceline of Furness, 251.
oggs, 297.
ohn, bishop of St. Andrews, 68.
ohn, St. See Knights ; also Polma-
die.
ohn, St., the Baptist, altarage of,
225-6, 263.
ohn Street, 25.
usticiar, 107.
Katherine, St., of Senis, 242.
Keir, laird of, 313.
Kelso, 91.
Kelvin, water of, 49, 125, 142.
Kelvingrove Park, 161.
Kennedy Street, 239.
Kentigern, St., 13, 251,
— well of, 33.
— tomb and relics of, 155, 228.
— trees, 237.
— church or chapel of Little, 236-8.
Kerr, James, 1 7.
Kilbride, parish of, 207, 222.
Killearn, parish of, 207.
Kiln-croft, 49.
Kilpatrick, church of, 250.
Kilpatrick, James, 296.
Kilwinning, abbot and convent of,
243, 267.
Kincaid, Francis, 330.
King, Besse, 315.
King Street, 10, 11, 38, 88.
Kirkcudbright, 106.
Kirkintilloch Road, 138.
Kirkmahoe, parish of, 207.
Kirk-Sessions, early, 289-324.
Kirkyard at Cathedral, 314-5 j fences
of, 322 ; playing in, prohibited,
322.
Knights of St. John, 6^.
— Templars. See Templars.
Knox, Christopher, beddell, 314-5.
Knox, John, 270, 289.
Kyle, 99.
Ladle dues, 148-9, 165.
Lady-gait, 5, 235.
Lady well Street, 161.
Laing (Layng), John, parson of Luss,
22.
— John, teacher, 324.
Lanark, 120, 165.
— sheriff of, 1 19.
— shire of, 1 19-27.
Lanark, Robert of, subdean, 189.
Landmarks, removal of, 21.
Langside, battle of, 154, 182.
— lands of, 186-8.
Largs, lordship of, 221.
Lauder, 34.
Lauder, Mr. Alexander, parson, 221,
269,
— Sir John, of Fountainhall, 59.
— Margaret, 59.
Laws, early burgh, 163, 173.
Leis (Leys, Lees), Mr. John, 282.
— Thomas, vicar of Dreghorn, 7 1 .
Lennox, 307.
Lennox, Duke of, 11 5-7.
— Earl of, 108, 176.
— earldom of, 121.
— Duncan, Earl of, 250-1.
— Esme, Earl of, 156, 205, 292.
— Malcolm, Earl of, 249.
— Isabella, Duchess of, 251.
Leper Hospital at Gorbals, 251-5,
Chapel, 252-3, 327.
Library-house at Cathedral, 310.
34^
GLASGOW MEMORIALS
Liddell, John, 141.
— Kate, 318.
Liddell's or Limehouse Bog, 141.
Lightburn, 137.
Lime-holes, 52.
Limehouse, 141-2.
Limestone and lime-craigs, 132.
Lindsay, David, of Kittoksyde, 8.
— Elison, 311.
— Robert, of Dunrod, 8.
Lindsay's Wynds. See Wynds, Old
and New.
Linlithgow, 34.
Linningshaugh, 49, 63.
Litsters, 48.
Livingston (Leveingstoune), James,
212-4.
— John, 212.
— Mr. Thomas, canon and treasurer,
212.
Loanhead Well, 137.
Locheid, James, 91.
Lochow, Lady, 252.
London, road to, 42.
London Street, 36-47.
— commissioners, 39-47.
Long Croft, 6, 80-97.
Lop, Margaret, in Drygate, 296.
Lords of the Congregation, 193-4.
Lothian territory, 121.
Lotteries, Glasgow, 38-47.
Lufe, John, 300.
Luggie Water, 160.
Luss, parson and parish of, 22, 207.
— manse, 22.
Lyon, Alison, 53.
— Archibald, 153-4, 156, 161.
— Donald, 153.
— James, 320.
— Marion, 237.
Mace, University, 191.
Magistrates to enforce decrees of
Kirk-session, 294, 319.
— to be men of upright life, 294.
Mainard, burgess of Berwick, 68.
Malcolm IV., King, 248.
Mallsmyre Burn, 248.
Malt Mill, 160.
Manses, prebendal, 15, 23, 27.
— gardens of, 27.
— to city ministers, 279.
Maps, old, 17, 58.
Marches, perambulation of, 72-3,
144, 322-3.
Market Cross, i, 2, 23, 36-8, 133.
— well at, 68.
— Green or Herb, 10, 288.
— Salt. See Salt.
Markets, establishment of, 163-4.
— places for holding, i, 10, 23, 24,
50, 65, 68, 84-7, 104-5, 169,
288.
Marriages, 321-2.
Martin, St., of Tours, 210.
Mary, Queen of Scots, 116, 195, 202,
222, 245, 273.
Mary, St. See Virgin Mary.
Masons, Incorporation of, 136.
Maxwell, Sir George, 323.
— Sir John, 324.
— Sir John, of Pollok, 188.
— Lord, 254.
Maxwells of Pollok, 122, 188.
Maybole, church of, 243.
May plays, 323.
Mayne, Sir David, 9.
Maynes Wynd, 9.
Meadowflat, 7, 25, 133, 135.
Meal Market, 169.
Mearns, 254.
Meeting-houses of Glasgow Non-
conformists, 281-8.
Melrose, abbot and monks of, 2, 3,
68-70.
Melville, Andrew, principal of College,
289, 292.
Merchants, large building by, 40-1.
— Hospital and Hall, 60-1, 261.
Merchants' House, 56, 214, 232.
Merkdailly, 33, 285-7.
Merrylee, 188.
INDEX
347
Michael, St., altar of, 71,
Miller (Myllar), James, merchant, 82.
— John, of Westerton, 94.
— Margaret, i i 2.
— William, 22 ; elder and younger,
90-1.
Miller Street, 94.
Mills, old grain, of Glasgow, 151-62.
— on Molendinar Burn, 49, 148-9,
I 53-62, 21 1-2.
— on Water of Kelvin, 49, 148,
152-62.
— hand, i 52.
— Wind, 152-3.
See Walk Mill.
Milndam and Milldamhead, 4, 49,
72-3, 143, 154.
Milnhill, 4.
Mills in burghs, 130.
Minerals in town's lands, 132, 147.
Ministers, provision for city, 266-80,
303-
Minstrels, 143, 323.
MofFat, parson and parish of, 17, 207.
— manse, 17, 313.
Molendinar Burn, 2-4, 15, 33, 38, 49,
52, 54, 63-4, 88, 91, no, 138,
153-7, 160-2, 211-3.
Monkland Canal, 17, 25.
— — Road, 17.
Monkland, old, parish of, loi, 207-8,
215.
— West, 153.
Monks' House, The, 20, 28, 66.
Monteith, Henry, 39.
Monteith Row, 38-9.
Montrose, 66.
Montrose, mansion of dukes of, 21,
27-8, 90.
— William, duke of, 27, 108, 174.
Montrose Street, 28, 169.
Moodies and Peters Maillings, 143,
145.
Moore, Sir John, 80-1.
Morebattle, parish of, 208.
— prebendal manse of, 265.
Morton, John, earl of, 269.
Morton, William, pipe-maker, 22.
Muir, Burgh, i 34.
Muir, Hugh, teacher, 331-2.
Muirhead, Thomas, rector of Stobo,
239-
Muirlie, 188.
Mungo, St. See Kentigern.
Mungo's freedom, St., 105-6.
Municipal boundaries, 16, 133-8, 167.
Murdoch, William, 64.
Mure, Prior John, provincial of Friars
Preachers, 193.
Music, teachers of, 323, 332-3.
Mussilbruch, John, vicar-general of
Friars Preachers, 193.
Muthall (Mutland) Croft, 8, 55, 243.
Mutton Market, 87.
M'Alpine Street, 133.
M'Arthur's map, 58.
M'Aslan, John, 17.
M'Culloch, farmer, 137.
M'Farlane, Principal, 41.
M'llwane, Patrick, 314.
M'Kenne, Besse, 315.
M'Kenzie v. Barony Heritors, 136-8.
Macleod Street, 263.
Natives or Neyfs, 108.
Necropolis, 133, 213-5.
Neil, Gabriel, 219,
Neilson (Nilson), James, 304.
Nelson, Horatio, admiral, 80.
Nelson Street, 80-97.
— — chapel, 83.
Net fishing, 67, 148.
Newark, 148. See Port Glasgow.
New City Road, 143, 145.
Newlands, 187.
Nicholas Street, 200.
Nicholas, St., chapel of, 236.
— hospital of, 8, 139, 251, 255-63,
265, 296, 301.
— — altarage of, 263.
Nichole, William, 303.
348
GLASGOW MEMORIALS
Nine-holes, 322.
Ninian, St., evangelist, 13.
— dedications to, 252-3.
Nisbett, Grissell, 56.
— James, deacon of wrights, 12.
— J. More, of Cairnhill, 12.
Noble, Joshua, wright and builder, 8 1 .
Nonconformists, Meeting-houses of,
281-8.
Oatts', J., lottery tickets at, 46.
Official, Court of, 174, 176, 228, 326.
Old-clothes market, 65, 149.
Old Wynd(vennelofFHigh Street), 91.
Open Air Assemblies. See Assemblies.
Orchard, 69, 70, 237.
Ormiston, Charles, merchant, Kelso,
91.
Osborne Street, 288.
Osmund, Bishop, of Salisbury, 325.
Outer High Church, 197, 278, 286-7.
Paisley Abbey, 19, 20, 28-9, 66, 70-1,
216, 254.
— abbot and monks of, 19, 20, 28-9,
120.
— burning of, 29.
— territory of, 1 20.
Pallacium, Bishops, 15.
See Castle.
Pallioun (Palzeoun) Croft, 6.
Paris, 210.
Parish divisions, 118-27.
Park, Robert, teacher, 334.
Parkhead, 42.
Parliamentary Road, jj, 134.
Parnie Street, 10.
Parson's Croft, 135, 138, 222.
Parson's Haugh, 222.
Parson's Land, 223-4.
Partick, 26, 98, 100, no, 125, 153-4,
157, 159 ; castle, 126.
— ward, 153.
Paterson, Janet, widow, 137.
— John, skinner, 8,
— William, labourer, 137.
Pear trees, 71.
Pedagogy, Auld, ig, 22.
Peebles, 290 ; parish of, 208.
Peitbog, 148.
Penitents' Silver, 317-8.
Pentland Firth, 222.
Pestilence, 238-41.
Petershill, 147.
Peters-Mailling, 143, 145.
Pettigrew, Gavin, wright, 27.
— Thomas, 3 10.
Pettigrew Street, 27.
Philip, the fuller, 189.
Phoenix recreation ground, 146.
Physic Well, 136-8.
Pigeons, 59.
Pilot Board, 178.
Pinkston, Fleeming, 142.
Pinkston lands and burn, 142.
Piper, donation to, 74.
Pirries Bog, 143, 145.
Pit and gallows, 31.
Plummers-holl, 134-8, 241.
Pointhouse, 77, 125.
Poldrait (Powdrait), 33-4.
Police Office, 87, 180.
PoUok estate, 122.
Pollok, Robert, in Partick, 229.
Polmadie, hospital and lands of, 123-5,
247-51, 255.
— martyrs, 247.
Poor, support of, 171, 177, 295-6.
Poorshouse, 125.
Population (17H0), 25, 38 (1821), 38.
Port-Dundas, 25.
Port-Glasgow, Sy, 141, 148, 222.
Port, East, 4, 34, 238, 285.
— North, 4, 225, 263,
— South, 3, 4, 50, 53-4.
— West, 4-6, 96, 225.
Portland Street, 94.
Ports or gates on thoroughfares, 15,
16, 72, 87.
Post Office, 83.
Prebend, lord of the, 209. See
Provand.
INDEX
349
Prebendal endowments, iio, 207-24..
Precentor in Cathedral, 326.
Prentices to trades, 177.
Princes Street, 10, 1 1.
Prison in Duke Street, 27.
Provan or Provand, prebend and
barony of, no, 133, 148, 160,
208-12.
— bailie of, 21 1-2.
— mill of, 153, 160-2, 21 1-2.
— prebendaries of, 208-11, 256, 309.
Provand's Lordship, 256-7.
Provanside, 16, no, 133, 135, 215-6,
237-
Provosthaugh, 223.
Pulpit in cathedral, 309, 311.
Purdon, John, tailor, 90-1.
Quadrivium, 15.
Quakers, 90-4.
Quarries, stone, 132, 145-7.
Queen Street, 6, 46, 84, 94-5.
Queen's Park and the Old Camp,
182-8.
Rae, James, merchant, 146.
Raehill, 146.
Raite, David, vicar-general of Friars
Preachers, 192-3.
Ramshorn, 7, 25, 97, 133, 201, 215.
Ranaldis Wynd, 7.
Rankynnis-hauch, 222.
Ranulf of Hadintun, 2, 68.
Rath, 13, 14. See Forts.
Ratho, 290.
Ray, John, 84.
Reformation, desertion of houses at, 23.
— transfer of church property at,
i38-9» 193-4, 202, 270-5, 3;;7.
— churches purged of idolatry, 230,
245, 301.
Regality, 98-117, 120-2.
Reid, David, surgeon, 318.
— John, 319.
— Sir Martin, chaplain, 244.
Renfrew, 105, 1 19-21, 164, 220, 222.
Renfrew, barony and shire of, 120-5,
307-
— parish of, 207.
Renfrew, land of parson of, 224.
— prebendal manse of, 256.
Rentals of town's lands, 34-5.
Rentals and rentallers in Barony, iii-
17, 133, 140-1, 149.
Renwick, James, covenanter, 284.
Revolution, late happy, 170.
Richmond Park, 125, 248.
Riddell, Helen, 316.
Riddle, turning the, 315-6.
River Bailie Court, 178.
Robert I., King, 208, 249.
Robertson, William, 79.
Roche, St. (Roque, Rollok, Rollox),
chapel of, 134, 225, 238-41.
— kirkyaird or cemetery and croft of,
134, 139, Hi» 230, 239-41.
— Loch (Sanct Rokis Loch), 134-8,
241.
Rollok, Mr. David of Kincladye, 222.
Roman roads, 26, 248.
Rome, 260, 321.
Ropework manufactory, 76.
Ros, Mr. John, town clerk, 313, 320.
— Thomas, merchant, 322.
Rose Street, 146.
Rosehall gardens, 142.
Ross, bishop of, 221, 267.
Ross' map, 58.
Rottenrow (Ratounraw), 13-30, 66,
215, 239, 271.
Roxburgh, Auld, parson and parish of,
18, 208.
— manse, 18.
Royal Exchange, 46.
Royalty stones, 136, 145-6.
Russel, Jerome, Grey-friar, 201.
Rutherglen, 104-5, 1 19-21, 164-5,
237, 248-9, 313.
— parish of, 125, 127.
— Road, 248.
Ruthven, Issobell, 319.
Ryall Dayis, piper, 74.
350
GLASGOW MEMORIALS
Sabbath observance, i 37-8, 144,205-6,
298-9, 322-3.
St. Andrews, 68, 201, 290.
St. Andrew's Church, 10, 52-3, 288.
— — Halls, 149.
— — Lane, 42.
Square, 10, 38, 42, 53, 87.
Street, 53.
St. Crispin's Place, Kirk Street, 90.
St. Enoch's Burn, 7, 74, 134-6, 216-8.
— — Church, 231-2.
Croft, 8, 74-8.
— — Square, 4, 78, 231-2.
— — Station, 60.
Wynd, 75, 229.
See also Tenew, St.
St. George's Church, 10, 288.
St. Nicholas Street, 262.
St. See Names of Saints.
Salisbury (Sarum) Church, liberties
and customs of, 325.
Salmon fishers, 148 ; rent, 112.
Salt, market for, 23, 24, 50.
Saltcoats, 222.
Saltmarket Street, 3, 9, 38, 40-2,
48-65, 243, 282.
Sanct Mongowis Spoutis, 33.
Sanders, James, music teacher, 333.
Sang Scule, 332-3.
Sanquhar, parish of, 207.
Saracen Head Inn, 34, 238.
Sauchiehall Road and Street, 90.
Saw-mill litigation, 64.
Schools, 332-4. See Grammar School.
Scot, Alexander, 70.
— Gilbert, in Easter Craigs, 299.
— Malcolm, called, 190.
Scots College at Paris, 209.
Scott, Sir Walter, 50-1.
Seal of cause, 39.
Seats in churches, 3 1 1-2.
Seggieholme, 142.
Sempill, Lord, 186.
Semples of EUiotson, 121.
Serfs, 108-10.
Serjeant of Barony, 106.
Sharp (Scharpe), Mr. Patrick, 327.
Shawfield Mansion, 94, 96.
Sheep, 9.
Sheriff-Clerk's Office, 42, 72.
Sheriff Courts, 174, 180-81.
Sheriffdoms, institution of, 119.
Shettleston Cross, 105.
Shiells, 122-3.
Ship Bank, 62.
Shuttle Street, 169, 200.
Sighthill, 142.
Silvercraigs in Argyleshire, 50.
Silvercraigs land, 50-1, 62.
Simpson, Sir Bartholomew, priest, 258,
261-2, 297, 300.
Simson, Cuthbert, notary and chapter
clerk, 260.
Sinclair, Henry, parson, 220-1, 267,
269.
— Sir Oliver, of Roslin, 267,
Skellings-myre, 141.
Skinners' Green, 64, 88.
Skirvine, George, master of Grammar
School, 332.
Slaughter-houses, 63-5, 87-8.
Smetoun, Thomas, principal of Col-
lege, 292.
Smith, Robert, builder, 94.
— William, lord provost, 41.
Snuff mill, 160-1.
Soapmaking, 85.
Soutra, in Haddingtonshire, 247.
Sovereigns, Scottish, use of garden by,
27.
— See Names of.
Spaniards, donations to, 296, 324.
Speir, Janet, 315-6.
Spouts, the, 33.
Spout-wynd, 34.
Sprewll, Henry, vicar, 267.
— Nicholas, 19.
Stable Green, 135, 215, 222, 225,
256;
Steeple, imprisonment in, 316.
Steip-holes, 52.
Steven, Thomas, rentaller, 1 1 2.
INDEX
351
Stevenson, Robert, bellringer, 3 i o, 3 1 4.
Stewart, Alan, of Cardonald, 70-1.
— Alexander, of Castlemilk, 214.
— David, parson of Erskine, 217.
— John, first provost of Glasgow, 71.
— Sir John,ofMinto, 123,140,214,
217.
— Jonet, 71, 214.
— Sir Ludovic, 2 1 4.
— Sir Matthew, of Minto, 214, 300,
309.
— Robert, 71.
— Thomas, 3 18.
— Walter, commendator of Blantyre,
114-5, 294. 303. 308- 5^^
Blantyre.
— Sir Walter, of Minto, 159,214.
— William, prebendary of Killearn,
327-
Stirling, 66, 201, 329.
— shire of, 121.
Stirling (Strivelyne), Sir John of, 100.
— William of, no.
Stirling, William, and Sons, 17, 82,
91.
Stirlings Road, 16, 17, 25.
— Street and Square, 82.
Stobcross, 222, 224.
Stobo, Jonet, 318.
— William, merchant, 147.
Stobo, parish of, 208 ; rector of, 234,
239-
Stocks, 297.
Stock Well, 67.
Stockwell Street, 5, 8, 38, 55-8,
66-79, 143.
Stones, inscribed, 51-2, 219.
— See Quarries.
Strang, John, 72.
Strathblane, church and lands of, 249,
251.
Strathclyde Britons, 186.
Strathgrif, 99.
Subdean, lands of, 133, 215-6, 271-2.
Subdeaner}', bailie of, 16, 215-6.
Subdean's mill, 153, 157, 159-62, 212.
Sugar-houses, 86.
Summerhill (Symmerhill), 139, 143-6,
322-3.
Swine, 9, 99.
Taggart land (Tolgartlie), 187-8.
Tailors, Incorporation of, 134, 138,
223.
Tankerland, l88.
Tarbolton, parish of, 207.
Taxations, early, 163-71.
Technical College, 336.
Teinds, 221-2, 266-80.
Tempill, John, in Nether Possil, 297.
Templars, Knights, 67, 70, 72.
Temporalities of Benefices, 112-7.
Tenew (Thenaw, Tenu), St., chapel of,
3-5»69,75,77> 135.225,227-34.
— Cemetery, 8, 229.
— Croft, 8, 74-7, 229.
— Street of. See Trongate.
— Well, 229-30.
See also St. Enoch.
Tennant Street, 239.
Tennent, Hugh, gardener, 147.
Territorial possessions, early, 128-50.
Thomas, St., the Martyr, 5, 66.
— chapel of, 5, 66, 232-4.
Thomson, Neale, of CamphlU, 186-8.
— Robert, manufacturer, 186.
Titwood, 122-3.
Tobacco, grinding, 161.
Tofts of religious houses, 66.
Tolbooth, 2, 3, 68, 73, 81, 175, 235.
Tower or fortalice, 69-71.
Towers,We3tern, of Cathedral, 305-10.
Town Hall, 81.
Townhead district, 23.
— toll, 166.
— gas works, 263.
Townmill Mailling, 212.
Trades House, 148.
See Crafts Hospital.
Tradesland, 40-1.
Tramway department, 149.
Travellers, public way for, i 39.
352
GLASGOW MEMORIALS
Treasurer of Cathedral, 133, 212-5.
Trees, 71, 75.
Trench, casting of, 34..
Tron or weighing apparatus and dues,
5» 167-9.
Trongate, 3, 5, 40, 42, 69, 80-2, 85,
87, 96-7, 228, 235.
— and its surroundings, 1-12.
— School, 332-4.
Tron Kirk, 9, 89, 197, 242-3, 245-6,
276-7, 286, 304-5.
— bell and steeple, 177, 245-6.
— See Virgin Mary, Collegiate
Church.
Turnbull, William, prebendary of
Barlanark, 209.
Turning the Riddle, 315-6.
Uddingstone (Odingstoune), 228.
Union Court, 22.
Union Railway, 65, 70, 72.
Union Street, 95.
University, endowments of, 16, 17,
168, 190-1, 195, 202, 216,234,
2+5» 2 74-5;
— principals of, 292, 328.
— rectors of, 292.
Vicarage. See Glasgow Secundo.
Vicars Choral, place of, 52.
— house bequeathed to, 1 89.
Virgin Mary, chapel of, 2, 5, 69, 8!,
230, 234-6.
— altars of, in Blackfriars Church and
Cathedral, 19 1-3.
— collegiate church of St. Mary and
St. Anne, 9, 34, 54, 139, 215,
230, 234, 242-6, 273, 290, 332-3.
See Tron Kirk.
— lights of, in cathedral, 175, 235.
Virginia Mansion, 92.
Virginia Street, 6, 94.
Walker, William, steward, 140.
Walker-gait, 3, 48-65.
See Saltmarket Street.
Walk Mill, 3, 49.
— on Kelvin, 49, 153-4.
Walkers or fullers, 3, 48.
Wallace, Mr. William, 329.
Wallace, Sir William, 28-30, 54.
Walter, son of Alan, 120, 186.
Walter, Sir, Fitz-Gilbert, 233.
Wan, Martin, chancellor of cathedral,
33' 261.
Wappenschaws, 144.
Wards of Barony, 152-4.
Wards of Lanarkshire, 1 2 1-2.
Warren, free, 208.
Water port, 72, 78.
Watson, Alison, 297.
Weallis, Andrew, merchant, 52,
Weaver Street, 16, 18.
Wedrope, William, 299.
Weel Close, 52.
Weir, Elspeth, 318.
Wells, 24-5, 33-4, 67-8, 136-8,
229.
Wemys (Wemes), Mr. David, minister
269-70, 273, 276-7, 290-2, 30!,
324-
Wester Common, 6, iio, 133, 142-3,
145-6.
Westercraigs. See Craigs.
Westergate. See Argj-le Street.
Whitehill Toll, 166.
Widows rentalled in lands, 1 1 2.
Wilkein, Robert, minister, 277.
Wilkie, Mr. William, 35.
Will, Mr. David, 329.
William the Lion, King, i, dd, 100,
103-5, 108, 144, 204, 232.
William " prefectus " of Lanark, 120.
Willock, John, superintendent of
churches, 290.
Wilson, George, founder of Charity
School, 97.
— John, tailor, 315.
— Mungo, 311.
— William, 319.
Wilson Street, 94-7.
Wind mill, 152-3.
INDEX
353
Wind mill croft, 153.
Wine, gifts of, 149.
— impost on, 170.
Wischart (Wyschard), John, pre-
bendary of Barlanark, 208.
VVoddrope, Marion, 318.
Wodrow, James, minister and professor,
285-7.
Woodend, 42.
Woodside, 144-5, 217.
— Lone, 144.
Woodside Mill, 158.
Wynd, Back or Maynes, 9, 287-8.
— New, 8, 9, 285, 287-8.
— Old, 5, 8, 285.
— (off High Street). See Old.
Wynd Church, 10, 285-8.
Wyndhead, 23-4.
York, Duke of, 61.
Young, John, tailor, 146.
Yule, observance of, 300.
GLASGOW ; PRINTEP AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS BY ROBERT MACI.EHOSK AND CO, LTD.
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